


A New Virus

by Vegorott



Series: Raising Annalise [3]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-03-01 01:58:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 47,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13284516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vegorott/pseuds/Vegorott
Summary: Annalise is no longer the little girl Anti and Dark found tied to their door. Reaching the end of her junior year in high school, Annalise is being told that she needs to start thinking about her future. Everyone's saying college while she wants to work at Glitchers, not knowing the full meaning of that job. Dark and Anti believes that to be their only problem, but when everything begins to start draining without their control, they fear that either someone's back, or there's a new virus to deal with.





	1. Happy Birthday!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my little bell peppers and welcome to the highly requested sequel to A Small Glitch! I hope all of you enjoy the sequel as much as you enjoyed the first story!

 

“ _ Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you _ .” Dark sang as he entered the dining room, a large chocolate cake was balancing on his hands, four bright orange candles circled the center with their wickers lit. 

“ _ Happy birthday dear Annalise.”  _ Anti joined Dark with his singing, a very happy and energetic Annalise sitting at the head of the table. “ _ Happy birthday to you.”  _ Dark placed the cake down in front of Annalise. 

“What I do?” Annalise asked as she stared at the cake with wide, eager, eyes. 

“You blow out and make a wish,” Anti answered.

“Wish? I get wish?” Annalise put her hands to her mouth in shock. 

“And you can’t tell anyone or else it won’t come true,” Dark said, smiling when Annalise scrunched her face in determination. 

“Got it.” Annalise nodded her lead before straightening up, chewing her lip for a moment as she thought before letting out a harsh puff of air and blew out the candles. 

“Got it one take.” Anti chuckled.

_ “Father...”  _

“Wanna tell papa what you wished for.” Dark asked in a soft tone.

“You say no tell!” Annalise huffed, wagging a finger in Dark’s face. 

“I was testing you, princess. Have to make sure you don’t tell anyone your secrets.” 

_ “Father.”  _

“No tell anyone.” Annalise promised. 

“I’m ready for some cake.” Anti chuckled.  

“Father!” 

Dark snapped out of his happy daze when his office door was thrown open. The laptop continued playing the video as Annalise entered the room, hands on her now developed hips and backpack slung over her shoulder. 

“I’m going to be late!” Annalise cried as she grabbed Dark’s arm and started tugging on it. “What are you watching?” She asked when she saw the video. 

“Nothing.” Dark quickly paused the recording and stood up. 

“I remember making that wish.” Annalise said with a light chuckle.

“That was thirteen years ago, how do you remember that specific wish?” Dark asked as his body changed to match what the fathers of Annalise’s classmates would look like.

“I make the same one every year.” Annalise stated. 

“Really? What is it then?” Dark brushed his now salt-and-peppered hair back.

“One: not telling. Two: please keep your hair as dark brown, the gray parts are too old for you.” Annalise ruffled Dark’s hair. 

“I think it makes me look mature.” Dark huffed as he changed his hair color. 

“It makes you look like a sugar daddy and I will not have my friends try to get some from you.” Annalise adjusted Dark’s hair until she was satisfied. 

“I’m a married man. To another man.” Dark straightened his tie before slightly bowing and gesturing towards the door. “After you.” 

“Why, thank you.” Annalise said in a low-pitched voice and did a small curtsey before walking out of the office. “When’s dad supposed to get back?” She asked while they headed for the front door. 

“He should be back by the time you’re home from school.” Dark answered. 

“Bye, Cranky.” Annalise said to the black cat sitting on the kitchen floor. The cat looked up, blinked their one green eye and meowed before going back to his licking. 

“Now, if you get a text to ride the bus go-”

“Lock all the doors, gather the hidden guns and knives, stay in the office with Cranky and wait until you get home.” Annalise listed off the steps with her finger as they left the house and went into the car. 

“Did you remember-”

“Yes, father, I remember all of it.” Annalise groaned, struggling to get her seatbelt to agree with her.

“Did you remember to look under your seat?” Dark asked with a grin. 

“No way!” Annalise squealed and reached under her seat, pulling out a small box. “It’s so pretty!” Annalise gasped when she pulled out a thick gold bracelet, a diamond in the shape of a butterfly was in the center of the band. “Thank you!” Annalise hugged Dark before slipping on the piece of jewelry.

“Happy birthday, princess.” Dark said with a smile.

“Tiana is gonna think that this is so cool!” She continued squealing as she put on her seatbelt. 

“Make sure not to lose that, it’s one of a kind.” Dark started as he began driving. 

“This thing is too cool to lose!” Annalise said as he admired the bracelet. 

So…” Annalise’s shoulders slumped, she knew what that tone of voice meant. “I saw that you had thrown away all of the college pamphlets that have been sent to you.” 

“Father.” Annalise groaned. 

“You’re nearing the end of your junior year, you need to be thinking about what college you’re going to.” Dark said. “You can go to whichever college you want. We can easily afford it and your grades are nearly perfect and you’re going to score highly on the ACT’s and the SAT’s later this year. You could go to Harvard or Princeton or Yale or anywhere.” 

“I don’t want to go to college.” Annalise muttered under her breath. She crossed her arms and curled up when she saw Dark stiffen a little, knowing she was in for a lecture. 

“Why don’t you want to go to college? Do you know the thousands of people your age who would love to know that they could go to college worry free? To pursue any field they want without fear? No student loans, no debt, just college?” Dark was waving his other as he spoke. 

“You didn’t go to college.” Annalise protested. 

“I’m a demon, Annalise. I’m not like the others.” 

“And I’m a virus like dad. I’m not like the others, too.” 

“Your dad is a virus that was formed inside of a grown man's body. You were born, you are being raised and I have not been raising you so you can waste such a golden opportunity.” Dark waited for several teenagers to walk past the car. 

“I don’t want to waste four years to get a degree that I don’t want.” Annalise said.

“What do you want to do then? I can’t think of anything that a college degree isn’t either required or at least help.” Dark pulled up to the high school. 

“I want to work with dad.” Annalise answered. 

“I…” Dark felt his voice get caught in his throat. 

“I’m great with computers, I’m a natural and I’m sure dad won’t require a college degree to hire me.” Annalise started to get out of the car. Dark sighed as Annalise walked around the car. 

“I love you.” Dark called. Annalise stopped, did a shuffle like she was trying to hold herself back, but lost and she rushed over to the driver side of the car. 

“Love you, too.” Annalise said after giving Dark a peck on the cheek. “Shit!” Annalise cursed when a bell went off. 

“Lang-”

“Bye!” Annalise waved as she ran off. Dark watched Annalise run up to a girl her age and the two laughed as they both ran into the building. Tatiana, or Tiana, for short, was a very nice girl that Annalise befriended when they were both seven years old. Dark could still remember after school had ended that Annalise was holding Tiana’s hand and walked her over to him and Anti. Tiana was a little confused at first when Annalise referred to them as ‘papa’ and ‘daddy’ but she just shrugged and greeted ‘Mr. Papa’ and ‘Mr. Daddy’ with a big wave and a squeaky voice. The two had spent many weekends over at each other’s houses, it took hours of convincing from Anti and a few...favors, to get Dark to agree into letting Annalise go to Tiana’s house. There, of course, was a phone call to Tiana’s parents, but after the first time, Dark never questioned it again. His little girl was happy and that’s what mattered.

“Hey, buddy! What you doing!?” A voice shouted and was followed by a honk. Dark blinked a few times, getting pulled out of his memories and he drove away. He had other things to do besides getting angry at a rude man. Dark took out his phone and held one of the keys to speed dial someone. He put the phone on speaker and placed it inside of a phone holder. 

“Hey, handsome.” Anti answered with a chuckle. 

“Did you get it?” Dark asked as he took a turn. 

“I did not travel all the way to New Jersey to not get it. I’ve gone through all the batteries I’ve packed and I’m going to pick up some more before coming back to the house, see you in twenty. Love you.” 

“Love you, too-could you not!?” Dark snapped at the person who cut him off and forced him to slam on the brakes. “Seriously! I don’t give a fuck that I can’t die, that doesn’t give you a reason to be an asshole!” 

“Save that anger for the bedroom, honey.” Anti’s smirk could be heard through the phone. 

“Then you better hurry up, the others will be at the house later and I don’t want to be interrupted.” Dark chuckled. 

“I’ll see you at home, Darky.” 

“I’ll see you.” 

_ x~x~x _

Annalise was giving Dark a look of suspicion as she got out of the car. He was happy, too happy. He was overly excited about something. For most people Dark seemed like he was fine, he seemed calm and collected, but Annalise was able to tell with the occasional twitch of the lip, the messing with his hair a little too much and the light movements of his fingertips, something was up. 

“Allow me to get the door for you.” Dark said, holding the door for Annalise. 

“Did someone-”

“Surprise!” 

“Holy shit!” Annalise cursed when all of the egos jumped out towards her. 

“Language.” Dark sighed as Annalise ran into the group and got lost in a giant hug. 

“Happy B-day, girl.” A girl Annalise’s age said and gave Annalise a personal hug. 

“How did you beat me, Tiana?” Annalise asked.

“Wilford got me after school on his motorbike.” Tian answered, gesturing with a thumb towards the pink haired man. 

“You got to ride the motorbike!?” Annalise gasped. “When can I-”

“No.” Dark stated.

“But-”

“Tiana’s mother gave us permission but you do not have mine.” 

“Father.” Annalise whined. 

“Would anybody like some cheese with that whine?” Bing asked as he held a cheese platter towards Annalise. Annalise laughed at the joke and took a cube. 

“I’m glad you could make it.” Annalise said with a shy smile at Bing. 

“Like hell, I’m missing the party of the year!” Bing did a spin on his heels, earning another laugh from Annalise. 

“Look out, bitches! I got cake!” Anti called out as he entered the room, a large tray balancing on his arms. 

“Dad!” Annalise cheered. 

“Happy birthday, princess.” Anti chuckled as he lowered the tray onto the dining table that had been moved to the living room. “Check it out!” Anti removed the cover and showed off a cake designed in the shape of a butterfly. The wings were orange with cubes making their shape, a sheer gloss covering it to make them look holographic. 

“That’s so cool!” Annalise and Tiana said together. 

“Let’s eat!” Anti picked up a knife from the table and started slicing the cake, handing Annalise the first slice before passing out a piece to everyone. 

“I totally mastered this new trick on my skateboard and you gotta let me show you.” Bing said from his spot on the floor while looking up at Annalise and Tiana, who were sitting on a couch. 

“We have to make sure father’s not looking.” Annalise said in a lowered tone. 

“Your dad would be all for it.” Tiana said. “But Mr. Papa.” She held out the word to show her lack of faith. 

“I’m still not sure how they made this gloss.” Marvin said as he examined the piece of cake on his fork.

“Sugar?” Chase raised a brow and licked the frosting. 

“Hey, you two.” Anti plopped himself between the two and laid his arms across their shoulders. “Have you hooked up yet? I want my ten bucks from Dark.” 

“I’m married, Anti.” Chase protested. 

“Are you?” Anti raised a brow. 

“Technically and besides, me and Marvin are just good friends, right, Marvin?” 

“Yep. Just friends. Only friends.” Marvin shoved a large bite of cake into his mouth. Chase was oblivious to the gesture since his attention was drawn away by Wilford as he and Jackieboy started dancing offbeat to the music. Anti caught what Marvin did and patted the magician’s shoulder. 

“Don’t give up.” Anti whispered before getting up. Marvin swallowed thickly and stared at his cake. 

“I don’t…” Marvin let out a soft whine instead of finishing his statement. 

“I think Annalise is having fun.” Dark said with a small smile when Anti joined him. 

“Good. It’s her birthday, she should be.” Anti wrapped his arm around Dark’s waist. 

“Haven’t you had enough for today?” Dark chuckled. 

“I could never have enough of you.” Anti put his other hand on Dark’s chest and gave him a kiss. 

“Gross!” Annalise yelled, getting a laugh from the others and making Dark and Anti part. 

“Get a room!” Tiana added. 

“Don’t give them any ideas.” Google said

“Too late!” Anti quickly leaped on Dark’s back and pointed. “To the bedroom!” Dark simply stood there and made a face. “To the bedroom!” Anti tried again. “You’re no fun.” He said after another pause of nothing. 

“You weren’t saying that earlier.” Dark said with a wink. 

“No! Don’t say things like that!” Annalise flailed a little. 

“Oh, no. The birthday girl is upset.” Anti hopped down and ‘ran’ to Annalise. “Does she need to tickle-monster?” 

“Don’t you dare.” Annalise held up a finger. “Traitor!” She squealed at Tiana when she took her plate away and Anti started tickling her. 

“Back-up, I need back-up!” Anti laughed as he struggled to contain Annalise.

“Here comes Dark-osaurus!” Dark rushed over and joined Anti. 

“No!” Annalise giggled as she was tickled mercilessly by her dads. “Help!” 

“Uncle Stache is here!” Wilford grabbed Dark from behind and pretended to try to pull him away. 

“And here we can see the strange ritual that is of these demons, Jim.” Reporter Jim said into the camera as all of the other egos joined in the big, chaotic, mess. 


	2. Not A Child

 

Annalise was sprawled out on the couch, reading off of her newly bought tablet that Anti had gotten her for her birthday. She chuckled at the comic she was reading that Bing had suggested she try out. Annalise let out a hum when the front door was knocked on. 

“I got it.” She called as she placed the tablet down and headed for the door. 

“Where is he!?” Annalise was greeted by a large man shoving his way into the house, waving a gun around. “Where is that bastard!?” 

_“Get out_ ,” Annalise warned in a harsh tone, not even flinching when the gun was aimed at her face, the barrel only an inch from touching her nose. Annalise glitched and appeared behind the man. She kicked the man’s knee and sent him to the ground. Annalise snatched the gun away and pointed it at the man, finger on the trigger and eyes cold. 

“Ann!” Anti glitched into the room as Dark threw open the door to his office. 

“Are you okay!?” Dark asked as he and Anti rushed over to the teen virus. 

“I’m fine,” Annalise said, letting Anti take the gun from her and rolling her eyes as Dark checked her over. “He came in with the gun and, pointed it at me and I-” 

“You threatened my daughter with a gun!?” Anti yanked the man to his feet and slammed him against the wall. 

“You didn’t do your job!” The man shouted back. Anti only growled before he glitched both of them out of the room. 

“I did my fucking job, you piece of shit!” Anti’s voice was muffled and was below Annalise’s feet. They were in the basement. The basement that Annalise has never been in. 

“Father.” Annalise protested as Dark took her wrist and dragged her into the office. 

“You are not to leave this room until either I or your dad come to get you,” Dark stated as he typed away on his laptop. 

“The dog was still alive!” 

“Are you fucking kidding me!? The Dog!? The fucking  _ dog _ !?” Annalise blinked when there was a loud crash and didn’t fight back was Dark sat her down in the chair, too engrossed in the conversation. “You come into my home and threaten my child because of a dog I was not hired to-” Annalise yelped when headphones were suddenly put on her head and some loud music prevented her from hearing the rest of what Anti was saying. She looked at Dark and the demon sighed the word ‘stay’ before vanishing into a puff of black smoke. Annalise went to remove the headphones but found that they were magically stuck to her head. She tried unplugging them, nothing. She couldn’t turn off the computer either. She wasn’t even able to pause the film. 

“That’s so not fair.” Annalise huffed before crossing her arms and leaning back against the chair. “He left a tab open.” She said out loud when she saw that the ‘forbidden internet’ icon had a line under it, telling her that something was pulled up. Annalise wasn’t supposed to use that browser, she was told to never touch it, to never look at it. “A quick wouldn’t hurt.” She sang before taking the mouse and clicking the icon. “That’s dull.” Annalise pouted when she saw that it was just Anti’s webpage for Glitchers. “Wait…” She raised a brow when she noticed that the prices didn’t make any sense. Why was uninstalling a program half a million dollars? Why was there a specific category for uninstalling things in the first place? “Installing a firewall is an additional hundred grand? What?” Annalise scrolled down the page, seeing insane prices for simple computer tasks. Was her dad really  _ that  _ good? Or was he doing something else? “All payments must be done in cash and cash only. Meetings will be done at our discretion. A contract is to be signed at the first meeting…what the hell?” Annalise said in confusion. What was this? What did all of this mean? Something wasn’t right. Annalise quickly went back to the film when she saw that Dark had appeared back into the room. “I couldn’t even leave the tab.” She lied with a pout when Dark gave her a look. Dark rolled his eyes and smiled a little with a head shake as he went over to Annalise and removed the headphones. 

“Sorry for that, princess. We were having a business discussion and couldn’t have you hear us.” Dark was clearly lying, Annalise could tell. His aura slightly flickers when he lied, the blue covers the red just a bit. 

“Where’s dad?” Annalise asked, crossing her legs. 

“A mess was made downstairs and your dad is cleaning it up.” There was no flicker.

“What kind of mess?” 

“Some spilled water.” Flicker.

“Fa-”

“All good to go, nice and clean.” Anti chuckled as he glitched into the room. 

“So...what was that all about?” Annalise now crossed her arms as well, using her, what Anti called, ‘Dark face’, showing that she knew something was up. 

“Just an unsatisfied customer,” Anti answered. 

“With a gun?”

“It’s America. Anyone can get a gun.” Dark huffed as he tugged on his blazer. 

“You’re a computer person. You fix computers, why would he-” 

“We’ll talk about this later, Ann. I need to get ready for a job tonight,” Anti said. 

“Are you installing a program? Or installing a firewall? Or are you taking care of a ‘fried hardware’?” Annalise used her fingers to make the quotes. 

“Annalise,” Dark said with a warning in his tone. 

“Why does it cost half a million dollars to uninstall a program?” 

“Did you go on the browser!?” Anti snapped. 

“Father left it open!” Annalise protested, standing up. 

“I did not,” Dark stated, voice stern. 

“I want to join dad at work tonight,” Annalise said. 

“Absolutely not!” Anti and Dark both shouted.

“Why not!? It’s just computer work, isn’t it!?” Annalise’s tone had an accusation in it.

“It’s a school night.” Dark quickly said before Anti could speak. 

“So? I have perfect attendance, one day isn’t going to screw me.” 

“You are to focus on school and nothing but school!” Dark’s voice got louder as he spoke.

“I don’t want to go to college!” Annalise screamed. 

“Then you can go to your room!” Dark snapped. 

“What are you hiding from me!?” 

“Room!” 

“Fine!” Annalise stormed out of the office, hearing the door slam behind her. 

“Maybe we should tell her the truth.” Annalise heard Anti’s voice say. 

“She doesn't need to know. It’s dangerous for her to know.” Dark protested, voice a lot softer already. 

“She’s not a child anymore.”

“She will always be our child.” 

“Dark…” 

“You should get going. Have fun with the Phillips.” 

“Phillips?” Annalise’s eyes went wide with that name. She knew them. She knew where they lived. 

“Two million dollars.” Anti chuckled. 

“Four uninstalls.” Annalise went to her room and shut the door. “I'm _not_ a child anymore.” She said to herself before glitching out of the house.  


	3. Uninstalled

“She’s a fucking bitch, anyways, who cares?” A scruffy voice said.

“She’s still a person.” A softer voice responded, Annalise knew that voice but the name wouldn’t click.

“I want to have fun destroying her career, not worry if she’ll be sad or not.” A third, sharp voice said. 

“She told on dad, she gets ruined.” A fourth voice with a hint of a nasal tone stated. 

“What dad did was illegal-”

“Who gives a fuck about the law!?” The scruffy voice cut off the soft one. 

“The law doesn’t get us paid.” A fifth, low-pitched, voice said. 

“But dad-” 

“But nothing!” The soft voice was cut off once again, this time by the low-voice. “I am the head of this house and what I say go!” There was a loud bang and it was followed by some screams. 

“Who turned off the power!?” The sharp voice cried. 

“This isn’t funny!” The nasal voice whined. The voice screamed again when there was a loud, echoing laugh, sounding as if it came from everywhere. 

“Dad,” Annalise said when she recognized the laugh, the distortion being very unique to Anti. Annalise slowly crawled out of the television, hearing more laughter and more screams coming from the other room. Why would Anti be putting on a show like this if he was just supposed to be fixing a computer? Annalise watched as the lights began to flicker. Did Anti know she was here or was he too distracted? 

“A family that destroys lives together, dies together.” Anti’s voice said in a sing-songy tone. 

“What is that?” Soft voice whimpered. 

“Run Elliot, trust me, you want to run,” Anti warned in a kinder tone than he used before. 

“Elliot, get behind me!” The scruffy voice ordered before he let out a shout and something sounded like it shattered. 

“Keith! What the fuck are you-” The sharp voice became a scream and there was a loud ‘thud’. 

“ _ Run,”  _ Anti growled before there were more screams and more loud bangs and crashes. Annalise stiffened when a young man ran into the room she was in. 

“Who-” The man, who Annalise knew was Elliot, was stopped by the teen virus putting her hand on his mouth. 

“It’s okay. I’m not a bad guy.” Annalise whispered, seeing the fear in the young man’s eyes. He was lanky with little muscle build. Annalise had seen him at school and only knew his last name because of gossip she’s heard from others that said his family was part of a gang of some sort. Annalise slowly lowered her hand, ready to slap it back on if needed.

“Who are you?” Elliot asked.

“Nobody.” Annalise snapped her fingers and Elliot’s eyes went white before he passed out. “I really hoped that worked,” Annalise said to herself as she laid Elliot on the ground. “Memories are weird and school is going to be interesting for you tomorrow.” She added as she neared the other room, peeking her head in. 

“Lillian never asked to work for you,” Anti said before giving a man, who was laying on the ground, a kick to the stomach. “Lillian was born into the hell you put her through.” Another kick. Annalise’s eyes were wide. What was her dad doing? She saw that a thin woman was pinned to the wall by multiple knives, blood trickling out of a split lip. Another larger, woman was on the ground as well, sobbing as she held what looked like a broken arm. An older man was curled up in a ball, body shaking to the point that Annalise knew he was badly injured, the pool of blood surrounding him was also a big clue. 

“We get it!” The pinned woman, nasally voice, cried. “We’ll leave her alone! Tell Mr. Yolen we’ll leave her alone!” 

“Aw, honey,” Anti said, using a sickeningly sweet tone that caused a shiver to go down Annalise’s back. The virus slowly walked over to the woman, a hand behind his back that a knife appeared in. “You don’t get it, do you? You don’t get that I wasn’t hired to just beat you up. I’m not here to send a message. I’m here to make a point.” Annalise had to slap her hands over her mouth to silence a gasp when Anti took the knife and plunged it into the woman’s chest. “Get it? Point?” Anti started laughing as he yanked the knife back out and stabbed it back right in. 

“You’re...insane.” The woman with the broken arm spat. 

“What?” Anti said with a smile, going over to the woman and kicking her over. “I think my jokes are killer.” Anti slammed his foot down. The woman let out a scream, blood spurting out of her mouth. “They’re just to die for.” Another stomp. “Don’t be a buzzkill.” Anti chewed his lip, the woman was gasping in pain beneath him. “That one was kind of a stretch.” He hummed before making another knife appear in his hand. “I guess you could say that it went flat.” Anti stabbed the knife through the woman’s face. “Like your heart rate.” Anti glitched away when the man he had been kicking before lunged at him. “You know what they say about playing with knives.” Anti sang as two smaller knives formed in his hands. The man leaped at Anti again and ended up screaming when Anti shoved both knives into his eyes. “You’ll poke your eyes out.” Anti laughed before turning the man around and throwing him to the ground, the ends of the blades were poking out of the back of his head. 

“Why...why…” The older man asked in a weak voice. 

“Because you fucked up, old man,” Anti answered as he made one more knife. “You fucked with the wrong man.” Anti threw the knife and it went through the man’s throat. The man gasped and gargled, twitching as he attempted to reach behind him. “Let me help you with that,” Anti whispered before yanking the knife out. There were only a few more sounds before the man stopped moving. Anti hummed as he placed the knife down on the table, the side of his face turned green and the light traveled down his arm and a small eye formed in his palm. “And recorded.” He said into the eye’s pupil. “Consider them, uninstalled.” 

“Dad…” Anti stiffened, eyes going wide. 

“A-Ann…” He slowly turned his head and saw Annalise at the doorway. “Princess, I...I can...I…” Anti started to stammer. How could this happen? How did he not know that she was there? How long was she there? What all did she see? Was she scared? Would she run? Did she hate him now? After so many years of keeping this hidden from her, it was all now in the open. 

“That was so cool!”  


	4. A Monster

Annalise sat on her bed, curled up into a ball in the corner as he listened to her dads talk. She was listening through the laptop, a skill she never told them that she had learned on her own. 

“If what she wants is to work with me than-”

“She is not working with you,” Dark said sternly, cutting Anti off. 

“She wasn’t scared, Dark. It didn’t bother her to see me slowly kill those people.” Anti protested. 

“With how Wilford talks, with how all of us talk about death so openly, she wouldn’t be scared of death.”

“She was amazed by it. She was entertained. She  _ loved  _ it.” Annalise heard several steps being taken. “She’s a virus. She’s like me. She’s a killer.” 

“It’s too dangerous for her to be a killer.” 

“She’s done it before.” Annalise stiffened. She’s done what? 

“She didn’t know.”

“At three years old she killed Rus and those other virus’. She killed her own mother, Dark.” 

“My…” Annalise suddenly found herself struggling to breathe. 

Her mother? Did she kill her mother? She was told that her mother ran away after Anti and Dark threatened her. That she was living somewhere else with her father. Was her father dead? Did she kill her father too? 

Tears started to fall down Annalise’s cheeks as she slowly crawled out of her bed. 

“She didn’t know Anti. She thought she was putting them in time-out.” 

“Forever time-out. Death. She was talking about death. She just didn’t know the word for it.” 

Annalise walked up to the office door, gently placing a closed fist on the wood. 

“A three-year-old shouldn’t know about death.” 

“They shouldn’t know curses or how to hide from the police or how to use pixels to form a giant fucking butterfly to absorb living people.” 

“I-” Dark stopped when Annalise knocked. “Annalise?” 

“I...I’m a monster?” Annalise asked in a whisper, looking at Dark with her red, wet eyes. 

“Ann!” Anti rushed over and hugged Annalise, tucking her head under his chin while he rubbed her back. “You’re not a monster.” 

“I killed her?” Annalise raised he head, looking at Anti’s chest. “I killed my own mother?” 

“You’re a virus.” Was Anti’s response. 

“I’m a monster.” Annalise stepped away from her dad. “I killed my mother. I killed all of those other virus’ and I…” Annalise’s voice got caught in her throat. 

“You’re not a monster.” Anti held Annalise’s upper arms and bent a little. “Look at me, honey. Look at me.” Annalise sniffed and finally made eye contact. “We are not monsters. We are just not human. We’re different from humans. Their morals do not match mine and Dark’s. At least, not all of them.” Anti looked over at Dark and saw that the demon was watching them, waiting for the right moment to speak. “Ann, princess, how virus’ are formed, it...it fucks with the head. We seem to crave what humans would see at horrible, as disgusting, as cruel.” Anti shook his head. “There are no words to describe what I feel when I kill. But you do not have to be like me. You’re not like me, you were born. You don’t crave like I do.” 

“I do…” Annalise swallowed thickly. 

“What?” 

“Those fights I got into when I was younger. They did provoke me, but I always went too far. I loved seeing their blood being spilled by my hands. I’ve always loved that rush I get when someone dies on TV and that rush was more than I have ever felt when I saw you kill the Phillips...I’m a monster. We’re monsters.” 

“Annalise. It’s okay. We can work through this.” Dark finally spoke, going over to the two and resting a hand on Annalise’s shoulder. 

“Let me work with dad. Please.” Annalise begged. “I can’t be the normal little girl you want. I can’t.” 

“Annalise…”

“Please.” Annalise was crying again. “That was the only time I ever felt right. That was the only time I wasn’t questioning who I was. Why I felt the way that I did. I didn’t hate myself. I felt like I belonged.” Dark and Anti both looked at each other. “Please. I am a monster. I want to be a monster. I need to be a monster.” 

“No,” Dark stated. 

“Fa-”

“I said no!” Dark’s aura shook a little. “Anti’s job is dangerous for anybody but himself. I will not risk you getting hurt.” 

“If she’s with me.” Anti placed a hand on Dark’s chest. “She won’t get hurt.” 

“Anti.” Dark put his hand over Anti’s. “I love you and I trust you, but you are not fully here when you’re at work.” 

“I would never harm Ann.” 

“I am not saying that you would. But others. They’ll see a young girl working with the person killing them and they will use her to their advantage.” 

“I’m not a child,” Annalise stated. 

“You’re only seventeen,” Dark stated back, lowering Anti’s hand and stepping forward.

“You know that I can handle myself. Dad taught me how to use a knife, Uncle Wil showed me how to fire a gun, Marv taught me how to escape if I ever get tied up, Dr. Iplier and Dr. Schneepelstein have shown me how to treat wounds and you taught me how to read people, how to know what would work for them in a single sentence, how to manipulate. I can take care of myself!” 

“We taught you those things to keep you safe,” Dark said. 

“And they will! They’ll keep me safe while working with dad!” Annalise argued.

“You are not working with your dad! This is the last I am going to hear about this!” Dark was about to turn around and leave. 

“Why do you keep doing this!?” Annalise cried. “Why do you keep acting like we’re a normal family!? We’re not! We’re a bunch of fucked-up beings!” 

“Watch your-”

“My language is the last thing we should be worried about right now!” Annalise’s body glitched a little. 

“Maybe we should call it a night?” Anti stepped between Dark and Annalise. 

“Why don’t you trust me!?” Annalise yelled. 

“I don’t trust others!” Dark protested. “Quit acting like a spoiled brat and actually listen!” 

“I hate you!” Annalise screamed at the top of her lungs before glitching out of the room. Dark went stiff, eyes wide and mouth open.  

Annalise landed in the living room, crying into her hands. How could she say that? How could she be so cruel to her own father? But how could he be so cruel to her too? Annalise started to pace. It wasn’t fair. She was a virus. That is who she is. Her dad killed, why couldn’t she? She’s already proven several times that she can defend herself, easily. She’s even killed in the past, clearly, it doesn’t traumatize her. All Annalise wanted was to actually fit in. To have someone else to understand and her dad was the only one that did and she just wanted to know what it was to be a real virus. 

A soft buzzing snapped Annalise out of her thoughts. Anti’s phone was on the coffee table and he was being called. The caller ID read ‘blocked’ and Annalise knew what that meant. She looked over at the office, not even bothering to listen in. After a strong breath, Annalise picked up the phone. 

“Glitchers.”  


	5. Convincing

“Papa! Up?” A very young Annalise asked, holding her arms out towards Dark. 

“What’s the magic word?” Anti’s voice asked from behind the camera. 

“Please!” Annalise let out a loud giggle when Dark hoisted her up, tossing her into the air a little and catching her. Annalise clapped her hands when she was placed back down on the ground. “Again! Again!” Annalise squealed as Dark repeated the action. 

“Does my little girl like flying?” Dark asked. Annalise nodded her head, already having an idea of what Dark was going to do. “Let’s explore.” Dark scooped Annalise up, holding her flat as he ran out of the room. 

“Don’t leave me behind, you two!” Anti laughed, chasing after them. 

“Wings!” Annalise waited until Dark released her before flapping her orange butterfly wings. Dark summoned his as well and flew around the room with her. 

“Daddy! Fly!” Annalise said as she hovered in front of the camera. The next shot showed that Anti had set the camera up on something since he was now flying around with Dark and Annalise. Anti took Dark’s hands and the two held each other close as they spun around. 

“Too fast!” Annalise yelped before ramming into Dark’s chest, all three of them laughing while Annalise hugged the demon. 

“I love you, papa.”

“I love you too, Annalise.” 

“She doesn’t hate you.” Anti’s voice took Dark away from the recording he was watching. Dark said nothing and closed the laptop. “She’s a teenager. Teenagers say stupid things to get their parents worked up when they don’t get their way.” 

“We used to be so close.” Dark sighed. 

“You two are still close.” Anti huffed.

“Then why did she ask you to drive her to school this morning?” Dark asked. 

“Again, she’s a teenager. She just needs some time to pout and everything will be back to normal.” Anti answered. 

“I just don’t want her to get hurt.” Dark let out a breath when Anti began to rub his shoulders. 

“I know, Dark, I know,” Anti said.

“I’m the bad guy because I don’t want my daughter to become a murderer for hire. Because I want her to go to college, to pursue her dreams with the highest education that she can get. Because I don’t want her to end up like us.” Dark leaned his head back, pressing it against Anti’s chest. “I love who we are. I would never give up what we have or what we do. But she’s not us.” 

“She’s a virus,” Anti stated. 

“I know she’s a virus. I know that she’s like you in the sense of the cravings. I know that killing is literally in her nature. I know that it’s what she wants. But I can’t help myself from being selfish and wanting her to live a happy, normal, life.” 

“The moment she was tied to our front door, was the moment she would no longer have a normal life.” Anti spun Dark’s chair around and sat on his husband’s lap. “I think we should let her join me in my next job.”

“Anti! I-”

“Listen to me. If she truly wants this, she’ll just find a way to get it. Like you said, she’s like us. We’ve trained her physically and mentally. She’s a smart cookie. If we don’t help her, she will get hurt.” 

“I don’t know…”

“What do I have to do to convince you?” Anti said with a grin, rubbing his hands on Dark’s chest. 

“Maybe a few things.” Dark chuckled before leaning forward and giving Anti a kiss.   

_ x~x~x _

“Elliot Phillips?” The teacher called out, not getting a response. 

“He hasn’t been here for almost two weeks,” Tiana said in a whisper to Annalise. “He’s never missed a day before.” 

“He probably got really sick or something,” Annalise answered with a shrug, her mind elsewhere. 

Tomorrow was the day. Tomorrow was the day she was going to prove that she could work with her dad. She already had most of it planned. It was Saturday tomorrow, so she could easily tell her dads that she was going out with Tiana. Annalise had the address memorized. It was only one person. One uninstall. One death.

“I heard that his family went missing.” 

“They’re dead,” Annalise stated, stiffening when she realized what she said. 

“How do you know?” Tiana asked. 

“I-”

“Would you two please mind saving your gossiping for after the class?” The teacher huffed, saving Annalise from having to answer. 

Annalise was thankful that she only had that one class with Tiana and was also very thankful that her father was always early when it came to picking her up and she sprinted out of the school before Tiana could find her. 

“What’s the hurry?” Dark asked, shocked to see that Annalise went straight to the car after the final bell rang, she usually took at least ten minutes to get everything and say goodbye to her friends. 

“No hurry. Just felt like running.” Annalise lied with a weak chuckle. 

“If someone’s bothering you, we can-”

“I said something that I shouldn’t have to Tiana and I’m avoiding her until either I can come up with a good lie to cover my butt or she forgets about it,” Annalise answered honestly this time.   

“I see.” There was a long and awkward pause. The air going stiff. 

“Father...I’m sorry.” Annalise saw that Dark swallowed thickly. “I shouldn’t have said what I said. I didn’t mean it. I would never mean that. I-” Annalise stopped when Dark patted her leg. 

“It’s fine, princess,” Dark stated, taking his hand back so he could take a turn. “I said some cruel things as well. And I’m proud of you for owning up to your mistakes and I am doing the same.” Annalise tilted her head. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Your dad and I have been talking today and we decided that you can join him for his next job.” 

“What!?” 

“Only if it’s one uninstall. It’s at night and you don’t have school the next day.” Dark continued. “You are to stay within your dad’s sight at all times. You are not to participate in the killing. You are to stay silent and do everything that you are told.” Annalise was about to say something, but something clicked in her head. Her eyes went wide and she began screaming curses inside of her head. “I know it’s not everything you’re wanting, but it’s a start.” Dark glanced over at Annalise and saw that she was staring ahead. “Are you okay...Annalise? Annalise, honey?” 

“Uh, yeah, yeah. Sorry, zoned out.” Annalise answered with a weak chuckle, covering her mouth and looking away as she groaned. “ _ Fuck _ .”  


	6. Big Trouble

Annalise took in several shaky breathes, she was nervous, she was nervous as hell. The contract in her hands was crumpled in her hands and it got worse when Annalise saw a car pull up. A young woman stepped out of the car, glancing around the empty parking lot to make sure that it was indeed empty. Annalise inhaled deeply, willing her heart to calm.  

“Are you from Glitchers?” The woman asked, walking over to Annalise.

“Yes.” Annalise stated, proud that her voice was steady and even.

“Let’s get this contract signed and over with.” The woman held out her hand, a brow raising in question when she was given the wrinkled pages. There was an awkward pause before Annalise let out a soft yelp and pulled a pen out of her pocket.

“You’re new, aren’t you?” The woman sighed, taking the pen and using her thigh to hold the pages flat as she signed.

“I…”

“I hope they’re just letting you take care of the meetings. Newbies need to start at the bottom or they’ll get themselves killed.” The woman stated, returning the papers and pen. “You’re young and pretty, don’t do anything to fuck that up.” She gave Annalise a pat on the shoulder before walking away. Annalise bit her tongue, annoyed that even this complete stranger thought that she couldn’t handle herself. If only they knew who she truly was but Annalise knew that speaking right now would not be the best for her or her family.

“I just need to get this done and everything will be okay.” Annalise whispered to herself as the car drove away. “They will never know.” Annalise added before glitching away.

“Yes mother, I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you.” Annalise opened her eyes and found herself looking at an older man through a computer screen. He was casually walking around his bedroom with a cell phone pressed to his ear. The man, who Annalise knew was named Patrick, sighed after moving the phone away and flipping it shut. Annalise dropped the pages and watched as they slowly became pixels and floated away, traveling to her laptop through the internet. “Time for some dinner.” Patrick chuckled to himself and stepped out of the room.

“I can do this…” Annalise said to herself before slowly crawling out of the computer. She was very thankful that the woman who hired her didn’t want a show, she didn’t want a recording, she just wanted this man gone. Annalise wanted so badly to know the story behind it, but the woman refused to tell, saying that it was a personal, family matter. It didn’t prevent Annalise from doing a little research and learning that Patrick was the woman’s father and he was filthy rich. Annalise assumed that she just wanted the money but she knew with how this world was, there was a chance that it was something completely different.

“ _ Tell me that you love me, yeah! _ ” Annalise stopped and let out a groan. She did not want to kill someone with that song playing. Bing had a habit of scream-singing that song whenever Google would say something mean to him and the last thing Annalise needed in her head was Bing being silly. Annalise rubbed her hands and did a light clap, orange pixels left her palms and flew into the other room.

“The hell?” Patrick huffed when the radio stopped playing. “I just bought this thing.” Annalise peeked her head into the kitchen and saw the Patrick had his back to her, messing with the radio.

This was it. This was the perfect opportunity. All she had to do was go in there and stab him in the head. It would be swift. It would be painless. It would be  _ boring _ .

“Who’s there!?” Annalise’s entire body froze when a creak from the floorboard happened after she shifted her weight.

“Shit.” She cursed before dropping to the ground, a bullet flying above her head.

“Why are you in my home!?” Patrick demanded. Annalise stared at the man. She can do this. She can do this. She is strong. She is smart. Just one plunge of the knife or even a fire of his gun would end this.

Why was she frozen? Why couldn’t she move? She wasn’t scared. She wanted this. She needed this. Why was her heart beating so damn fast?

“Say something!” Patrick’s hand trembled. Annalise blinked a few times. He was scared. He was the scared one. She’s the one with bright orange eyes. With pixels coming out of her hands. She was the monster.

“You fucked up, Patrick.” Annalise said softly, getting back up to her feet. She let out a loud laugh before lunging forward. A knife appeared in her hand and she slashed it down. Annalise stumbled when Patrick jumped away, she was not expecting him to dodge. She yelped when she got a harsh kick to the side, sending her to the ground.

“You fucked up.” Patrick stated, finger beginning to pull the trigger. Annalise curled up and heard the gun go off. She was waiting for pain or death or something. She opened her eyes back up and saw that Anti was holding Patrick’s arm up, a blade sticking out of his chest and a hole in the ceiling. Annalise watched as Anti released the man, the now corpse plopping down. Anti held his hands out and green pixels left his palms. They moved around the body, slowly engulfing it and when they moved away, the body and blood were gone. Anti crossed his arms and glared down at Annalise.

“Uh...hi, dad. How-How are you doing?” Annalise weakly chuckled. She flinched a little when she saw that Anti’s body was glitching. He was mad. He was really mad. “Are you angry?” She asked anyway.

“I am disappointed, Annalise.” Anti stated. Annalise felt an urge to cry. She would rather have him just be angry with her. “Get up and go to the house. Right. Now.” The firmness in Anti’s voice was terrifying.  “Your father is waiting for you, I suggest not making him do so any longer. I’ll be at the house soon.”

“I’m sorry.” Annalise said softly as she stood.

“You’re also grounded, for a month.” Anti added.

“Yes, dad.” Annalise hugged herself before glitching away.    


	7. Grounded With A Crush

Annalise had her arms crossed and she was pouting as she followed Dark into the Iplier meeting room. She wasn’t just grounded. She was  _ grounded _ . 

No tv. No computer. No electronics in general. She was only allowed to have her phone when she was at school in case there was an emergency and then had to immediately give it to Dark the moment she was in the car. Annalise wasn’t allowed out of Dark’s or Anti’s sights at any time except for bed. She wasn’t allowed to leave the house unless she was with one of them. She was constantly studying since she wasn’t allowed to just sit around and do nothing. Annalise had done more reading in the past week than she’s done in three years. She liked to read, but she was dying to do something else. 

“Sit. Here.” Dark ordered, pointing at the chair in the corner of the room. Annalise did what she was told and slouched over. 

Anti had to go do a job, that she was definitely not allowed to join and she had to come with Dark for his meeting since she wasn’t allowed to be at home alone. What Annalise wanted at the moment was to lay on her bed, cuddle with Cranky and watch some Netflix. 

“Hey there, Anna-bell.” Annalise sat up when Bing entered the room, greeting her with a large smile. 

“Hi, Bing.” Annalise greeted back. 

“I heard that someone got in big trouble.” Bing chuckled. 

“She’s been grounded,” Dark stated, not looking at the two as he organized his papers. 

“I wish ya luck.” Bing held a hand out. Annalise raised a brow before taking the hand, feeling something press into her palm. Bing winked before walking away. Annalise lightly giggled when she saw that she was holding a phone, she hid it under her legs and waited until all of the egos came in and sat down before taking it back out and beginning to text the only number in the phone.

“When do I get to know the story of what Annie Oakley did?” Wilford asked. 

“All you need to know is that she misbehaved, that is all.” Dark said. 

“She must have done something terrible if she’s here.” Bim commented. “Before you would have killed us if we even thought of bringing Annalise into one of the meetings.” 

“I’m assuming that Annalise knows the true forms of our work.” Google asked. 

“I will confirm that, but we need to begin focusing our attention on the matter at hand.” Dark pressed a button on a controller he was holding and an image of a man appeared on the tv at the end of the meeting table. “We’ve been hired to financially and socially ruin a U.S. Senator.” 

“All we need to do is catch him saying something offensive on camera and boom half of our job is done.” Bim said, clapping his hands. 

“We’ll need to do more than that, but that is a start.” Dark said, sliding a sheet of paper to Bim. 

“A sex scandal shows a pattern of bringing down a politician’s approval rates.” Google stated. 

“A few doctored medical records could also lead to the belief of consciously transmitting a disease.” Dr. Iplier added. 

“Anti can easily go into his bank accounts and...Bing.” Dark glared over at the younger search engine when he heard a chuckle from him. 

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” Bing flashed a smile at Dark. 

“Now, what are you up to over there?” Wilford asked with a grin. “No one looks down at the crotch and smiles that much.” Dark caught that Bing’s eyes traveled to the corner of the room. The demon turned and saw that Annalise was sitting sideways in the chair and laughing softly as she read off of a cell phone. 

“Annalise!” The young virus stiffened when she heard her name. She swallowed when she saw her father standing in front of her. 

“Uh…” Dark only held out a hand and that was enough to make Annalise hand the phone over. Dark made his way over to Bing and snatched the search engine’s phone away as well. 

“Hands on the table.” Dark ordered, going back to his seat when Bing did what he was told. “Now, as I was saying.” 

Annalise spent the rest of the meeting trying to find different ways to sit in the chair, not being able to stay still for more than a few minutes. At one point she was upside down and she fell out, landing on the ground in a very awkward and uncomfortable position. Her face turned a bright red when she noticed that Bing had seen what she did. Annalise quickly sat back down in the chair normally and looked away from the table, body burning with embarrassment. 

“We’ll begin the plan tonight. We’ll start with the social destruction and then have Anti hack his account when he begins to reach his lowest ratings.” Dark stated as the conclusion to the meeting. 

“Hey, Dark, ol’ pal. Do you mind talking with me for a moment?” Wilford asked, a playful smirk on his lips. 

“Of course.” Dark stood and followed Wilford out of the room. The other egos gathered their papers and chatted amongst themselves as they prepared to leave. “What do you need, Wil?” Dark asked. 

“I just thought I should fill you in on something about Annie.” Wilford chuckled. Dark’s entire body tensed up, fearing the worst. 

“What’s wrong with Annalise? Did something happen? Is she alright?” Dark asked, his words spilling out of his mouth. 

“She’s not hurt, but I think she might be a little sick.” Wilford let out a laugh as Dark’s face filled with even more concern. 

“Sick? She’s a virus, they don’t get sick. Unless she has a bug. Anti got that once and it was terrible.” Dark began rambling. 

“I mean, it is a type of bug.” 

“I need to get Annalise home immediately!” Dark was about to walk off when Wilford caught his wrist. 

“A love-bug, Dark. A love-bug.” Wilford was still laughing. 

“A what?” Dark yanked his arm back. 

“I think our little Annie’s got a crush.” Wilford explained. 

“What!?” Dark didn’t see that the egos and Annalise all looked at him, only hearing his shout and nothing else. 

“Calm down, my little demon, there’s nothing to worry about. She’s young, crushes happen. But she’s also reaching that age when-” 

“No. Absolutely not. She will not-no.” Dark began to pace. “Who is it?” 

“Not telling.” Wilford sang before disappearing in a cloud of pink smoke. 

“Wilford!” Dark shouted. “You cock!” Dark let out a sigh when he heard laughter from the other side of the glass. He was not the biggest fan of realizing that Anti’s language was influencing him as well. Dark faced the glass and felt a strange feeling of dread fill his chest. Wilford would not have said anything if the person that Annalise had a crush on wasn’t in that room. “Great.” Dark groaned. 

Annalise had a crush on an Iplier. 


	8. Take A Guess

“What did you say to my husband?” Anti asked after glitching into the Iplier home, arms crossed as he glared at Wilford. 

“Whatever do you mean?” Wilford asked with fake innocence, taking a very long sip from the cup in his hand. 

“I came home from a job and all I see is Dark pacing the living room and muttering names under his breath and something about Annalise.” Anti said. “I wanted to fuck, he was panicking, that kind of ruins the mood.” 

“I just told Dark something that I believe is to be true.” Wilford twitched his mustache. 

“Host!” Anti shouted, walking out of Wilford’s room. “Host!” He repeated, stepping into the living room and seeing that the other Ipliers were leaving their rooms. 

“Did you do something?” Bim asked Host. 

“Host is unaware of any wrong doings that he has committed.” Host answered. 

“What did Wilford say to Dark at the end of your meeting?” Anti demanded. 

“I’m actually curious as well.” Dr. Iplier said. 

“Host informs Anti that he actually does not know what the conversation between Dark and Wilford was, due to Wilford blocking him out.” Host explained. 

“Willy can do that?” Bing asked. 

“Host nods his head, saying that Wilford is only able to do so for a limited time and for certain things. Host adds that if it’s part of a prediction, Wilford can not block him.” Host said. 

“Wilford! That’s a dick move!” Anti huffed. “You can’t just cock-block Host!” 

“Host takes a step back and moves to behind Dr. Iplier since he was not the biggest fan of Anti’s choice of words.” Host spoke as he moved. 

“I would like to suggest that you just ask Dark what’s bothering him.” Google said. 

“I tried, but he’s fucking traumatized or something. I’m not a very patient virus and I wanted to see if I could get answers for the fucker who caused it instead of waiting for my husband to come back to reality.” Anti was now glaring at Wilford. 

“Guess you’ll just have to use that limited patience that you have.” Wilford said with a grin and a shrug. 

“You’re an ass.” Anti pouted. 

“Love you too, dear.” Wilford laughed as Anti flipped him off and vanished in a cloud of green pixels. “Now that daddy dearest is gone, let’s have a party!” Wilford clapped his hands and went away as well. 

“What am I missing?” Bim asked, getting blank stares as a response. 

“How long does it take to get used to that!?” Chase groaned when he and the other Septiceyes appeared in the living room with Wilford. 

“I keep telling you, you have to focus on one spot and you won’t get sick.” Marvin sighed. 

“Chase struggles with concentration.” Dr. Schneepelstein stated. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages!” Wilford cheered loudly as he jumped on top of the couch. “I have a special announcement for all of you and it involves out dear, sweet, Annie.” 

“Is Ann in trouble!?” Jackieboy looked like he was ready to pounce. 

“The offspring is in danger!?” Reporter Jim yelled while Cameraman Jim starting jumping with worry. 

“Let’s just say that she’s come down with something.” Wilford chuckled, seeing that both Dr. Iplier and Dr. Schneepelstein stiffened. 

“Do we need to get medicine.” Dr. Iplier asked.

“Does she need surgery?” Dr. Schneepelstein pulled out a scalpel. 

“She has a bug.” Wilford was enjoying himself too much as now Bing and Google both widened their eyes. 

“Is she suffering from a glitch?” Google pulled out several screens. 

“Is she getting hacked!?” Bing ran out of the house, none of the other egos bothering to stop him.

“It’s a love bug!” Wilford laughed as the egos all started to yell at him. 

“We thought she was hurt!” Marvin shouted. 

“She’s seventeen, she has a crush, that’s so shocking.” Bim huffed. 

“She’s brought boys home before, this is nothing new.” Chase had his arms crossed. 

“Actually, this is new.” Wilford sang, getting all of the egos' attention again. “She has a crush, on one of us.” Wilford had a large smile on his lips while the egos began to debate. 

“Has she been showing any extra interest in one of us?” Google asked, researching the signs of a crush. 

“I’ll give you guys a hint.” Wilford hopped off of the couch. “It’s an Iplier.” 

“I was actually expecting it to be a Septiceye.” Bim said.

“She does tend to favor Anti over Dark for most things.” Dr. Iplier said. 

“The virus demon seems to be the favorite.” Reporter Jim added and Cameraman Jim nodded with agreement. 

“There is no such thing as a favorite parent!” Chase snapped, his sudden anger a little shocking to the others. The Jims yelped when Chase raised his voice and they hid behind the couch, Wilford patting them on the heads when they settled. 

“It’s not really ‘favoritism’.” Google stated. “It’s similar to the case of a son being more attached to their father while a daughter would be more attached to their mother since they understand personal problems that the other would not get such as menstruation with women or genital understanding with males. Annalise is a virus, Anti is a virus, Dark is not. She’s not favoring Anti, she just knows that Anti understands certain problems that Dark does not know from first-hand experience.” 

“You could have just said ‘Anti gets her’.” Chase huffed. 

“Who cares if it’s a Septiceye or an Iplier, what matters is who is it?” Bim looked at Wilford. 

“Where’s the fun in me just telling you?” Wilford plopped down on the couch, crossing his legs. 

“I know it’s not you, your attitude would be different if it was.” Dr. Iplier stated. 

“Maybe she’s in love with a doctor?” Chase suggested. 

“Me?” Dr. Iplier pointed at himself. 

“Do you know how many romance novels there are that involve doctors? There are so many corny names for the titles too. ‘Dr. Love-heart’ or ‘Dr. Heart-throb’ and the taglines; ‘He can cure anything but his own broken heart’.” 

“Why do you know so much about those?” Dr. Schneepelstein asked. 

“I have a wife who hasn’t touched me in three years.” Chase stated, the room going silent and Marvin awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. 

“It can’t be Dr. Iplier.” Bim broke the silence. “Annalise hates the hospital and has a needle phobia.” 

“She doesn’t like shots.” Dr. Schneepelestein corrected. 

“‘I don’t want liquids put in me nor do I want my liquids taken away’.” Host quoted. 

“That just sounded weird coming out of your mouth.” Chase commented. 

“Could it be Host?” Dr. Iplier suggested. 

“Host may not be able to tell who exactly it is, but he is able to read that it is not him.” Host said. 

“It can’t be the Jims, she sees them as children.” Marvin said, pointing with a thumb at the twins, who were now peering over the couch. 

“Is Annalise in love with a devilishly handsome game show host?” Bim asked with a chuckle, adjusting his tie. 

“I’m just going to be blunt with that one and say ‘no’.” Wilford said in a teasing tone. 

“Oh, thank God.” Bim groaned. “I do not need Dark on my ass.”

“Is it Google?” Jackieboy asked as everyone looked at the search engine. 

“He is the most like Dark.” Marvin said. 

“Very factual and straight to the point.” Bim added.

“It’s not me.” Google stated.

“It can’t be Google.” Chase said. “Annalise’s favorite part about Dark is when he’s having fun. When he’s smiling and being carefree.” 

“She does seem a lot happier when Dark is.” Dr. Iplier agreed. 

“And all of the boys she has brought home are a little more on the ‘chill’ side.” Bim said. 

“If it’s not the blue robot, who is it?” Reporter Jim asked, leaning over the couch and speaking into his microphone. 

“Host has just realized that all of the egos have forgotten one of us.” Host’s shoulders slumped.  

“Hey, Googs. I think my maps need an update. I ended up at an ice-cream place.” Bing said as he walked back into the house, dropping his cone when everyone in the house yelled. 

_ “Bing!?”   _


	9. Filling In

 

Anti laid on top of Dark, hands crossed on top of the demon’s chest and chin resting on them. Both of them were on their bed, under a blanket and naked. 

“Are you going to tell me what Wilford said, now?” Anti asked, rolling his eyes when Dark started to rub circles on his lower back. 

“I might need another round to make sure I’m completely back.” Dark chuckled, pouting when Anti pinched his nose. 

“Fill me in and maybe,  _ maybe  _ I’ll consider another round.” Anti gave Dark’s nose a squeeze before releasing it. 

“Will I really need to work that hard to convince you.” Dark said in a whisper before leaning forward and giving Anti a kiss. Anti hummed in disapproval and sat up, straddling the other man as he took the blanket and wrapped it around himself, covering his entire body except for his face. 

“Talk.” Anti stated. Dark let out a loud sigh and plopped back down, arms outstretched. 

“Annalise has a crush.” Dark muttered. 

“That’s adorable!” Anti chuckled, moving the blanket so it was just covering his lower half. 

“On an Iplier.” Dark added.

“Oh.” Anti said with disappointment. “I was betting on it being Chase.” 

“Why?” 

“She’s a seventeen-year-old girl trying to find her way into the world, he’s a young father who’s attractive and carefree." 

“He’s married.” Dark huffed when Anti patted his chest. 

“Paperwork, dear, she’s just paperwork.” 

“Would you quit referring to Stacy as just paperwork and did you say that Chase is attractive?” Anti smiled at the hint of jealousy in Dark’s voice. 

“Chase looks a lot like me, who wouldn’t want to fuck me?” Anti asked with a little shimmy, laughing when Dark took the blanket and threw it off of him and the bed. 

“I know someone who would love to do so right now.” Dark ran his hands along Anti’s body. “I talked, time to fulfill your part of the bargain.” 

“You might have to do a little more convincing.” Anti chuckled and lowered himself to kiss Dark. 

“I’m going to pretend that my dads aren’t having sex and I’m going to let them know that I gotta pee!” Annalise sang from behind the door. Anti ended up collapsing on Dark from laughing so hard. 

“I’m sure she could wait a little longer.” Dark said as a whine when Anti crawled off of him. 

“I’m not letting our daughter’s bladder burst because someone wants to get his rocks off a fourth time.” Anti said as he slipped on a pair of shorts. He grabbed the blanket on the ground and tossed it at Dark so the demon could cover himself. 

“And you don’t want to?” Dark chuckled, his smile becoming an annoyed frown when he saw what Anti had put on. “Seriously? Those damned flamingo shorts?” 

“I think they’re cute.” Anti said with a wink before opening their door, Annalise yelping as she fell back. 

“Dad, I thought I convinced you to not wear those things. They’re embarrassing.” Annalise groaned, removing the headphones Dark had forced her to wear. 

“It sounds like you and your father need to work on your convincing skills.” Anti laughed as he stepped over Annalise. 

“Can we end my grounding early since I have to deal with that?” Annalise asked Dark. 

“Didn’t you say that you had to use the restroom?” Dark reminded.

“Oh, shit!” Annalise scrambled to her feet and took off. 

“Language!” Dark called after her. “Is cursing something that all virus’ do?” Dark asked when Anti came back into the room, an apple in his hand. 

“Don’t assume things, you ass.” Anti said in a teasing tone. He quickly shoved the apple into his mouth and took off when Dark get out of the bed. Anti jumped on top of the couch and removed the apple from his mouth. “Can’t catch me!” He laughed before leaping off of the edge and avoiding Dark. Anti tossed the apple over his head as he entered the dining room. Dark easily dodged the apple and saw that Anti was standing the on the, shaking his rear towards him. 

“Come here, you!” Dark said with a laugh and got on the table as well, laughing more when Anti jumped off and took off again. “You can’t run forever!” He called and got off of the table as well, following Anti back into the living room. 

“Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me I’m the-” Anti’s cheer became a squeal when Dark grabbed him from behind and started tickling him. “Ch-cheater!” Anti giggled. 

“Who said I ever played fair?” Dark chuckled, shocked to find his arms empty. 

“Who said I did either?” Anti said, standing next to Dark now. 

“You little-”

“So that’s what it looks like.” Wilford’s comment made Anti and Dark both freeze. 

“Wilford!” Dark quickly covered himself with his hands when he realized that he had been running around the house completely bare. 

“It’s great isn’t it?” Anti patted Dark on the back. 

“Why are we-the fuck father!?” Annalise yelled and covered her eyes. “It’s called pants!” Dark didn’t say anything and vanished in a cloud of black smoke. 

“Love the shorts.” Wilford chuckled. 

“Thank you. My husband and daughter think that they’re embarrassing.” Anti said as he posed. 

“They are, dad!” Annalise groaned. 

“I’ll be right back. I feel like I should put on a shirt.” Anti said.

“I swear if you put on that Dream Daddy crop-.” Annalise stopped when Anti glitched away. “It’s going to be the Dream Daddy crop top.” She sighed. 

“I was hoping to have a moment to speak with you in private but I wasn’t expecting it under these circumstances.” Wilford said. 

“You wanted to talk with me?” Annalise asked. 

“I’m just here to let you know that Bing will be at the Iplier meeting early tomorrow and that I know that Dark and the others will be running a little bit behind.” Wilford stated. 

“What does that have to do with me?” 

“I’m just saying if you’re willing to do a little bit of traveling with me, you’d be able to have a moment with Bing alone.” Wilford started to sing his last few words.

“W-Why would I…” Annalise cleared her throat, a light pink tint appeared on her cheeks. 

“I’m crazy, not stupid.” Wilford tapped Annalise on the tip of her nose. “If you want to ask Bing a question, tomorrow would be a great opportunity to do so.” He added with a wink. 

“How do I…”

“Be blunt.” Wilford heard Dark and Anti’s bedroom door open up. “I’ll see you at three tomorrow.” He said before leaving in a puff of pink. 

“Did he really just leave?” Anti asked. “I wanted him to see-”

“Dad! No!” Annalise yelled when she saw that Anti was indeed, wearing the Dream Daddy crop-top. 


	10. How To Ask

 

Dark was walking around the Iplier meeting table, placing small stacks of papers in front of the spot where the egos sat, their names all written in elaborate and cursive on the top of each page. He was expecting to be alone for at least another five minutes before anyone would usually arrive. 

“Hi, Dark.” Bing said as he stepped into the room. “I was told that you wanted to talk with me?” 

“I said no such thing.” Dark stated, turning his head when he felt someone appear beside him. 

“Hey, Darky, I have a few questions for ya.” Wilford clapped a hand on Dark’s shoulder. 

“But you said that I-”

“There’s something that I just can’t seem to get.” Wilford began leading Dark out of the room, cutting Bing off. 

“And it can’t wait until the meeting is finished?” Dark asked as a statement, already knowing what the answer was going to be. 

“It just has to be done right now.” Wilford said. 

“I figured.” Dark sighed and scrunched his eyebrows when Wilford suddenly stopped. 

“Wait here for a second.” Wilford said before poofing away. 

Unseen to Dark was Wilford appearing in the meeting room with a very nervous looking Annalise. He made several gestures before poofing away again and landing in front of Dark. 

“Did you forget to turn off the oven or something?” Dark asked in a teasing tone. 

“Perhaps. Now, for my problem.” Wilford wrapped his arms around Dark’s shoulder to prevent him from turning around. 

“There are too many of those for me to take care of in ten minutes.” Dark chuckled as he and Wilford walked away. 

After several moments of Wilford spouting out nonsense and aimlessly walking around with Dark, they started to head back to the meeting room. Wilford saw that Annalise was stepping out of the room and he quickly grabbed Dark by the shoulders and turned him around. 

“Do you like my new bowtie?” Wilford asked, glancing up at Annalise. Annalise rubbed her arm and shook her head. 

“What are you…” Dark turned back around when he noticed that Wilford wasn’t looking at him and saw nothing. 

“Hello, Bim!” Wilford went past Dark and greeted the show host. Bim was very confused and Dark was as well. 

_ x~x~x _

Annalise sat at the kitchen table, pouting. She was replaying the moment from earlier that day over and over again in her head. 

“ _ What’s up, Anna-bell?” _

_ “I...uh…” _

She choked. She completely choked. She had no idea what she was doing, all of the boys she’s been out with had asked her out, she didn’t ask them. She needed help. 

“Hey, dad?” Annalise asked out loud, looking over at Anti who was sitting on the counter and peeling a potato while Dark was next to him, chopping up some carrots. 

“Yes?” Anti glanced up for a moment before going back to his peeling. 

“How do you ask someone out?” 

“You don’t.” Dark stated while Anti laughed. 

“Dark, you can’t answer that question with ‘you don’t.” Anti said. 

“I think it’s fitting.” Dark huffed.

“How did you guys end up getting together?” Annalise’s question made Anti and Dark both stop what they were doing. 

“Well...I…” Anti stammered while Dark just stared at the cutting board. 

“It’s not that sappy, is it?” Annalise asked.

“Sappy isn’t really the word I’d used to describe that night.” Anti said. 

“What does that mean?” Annalise noticed that her dads were sharing a look. 

“Let’s just say that your dad and I didn’t get along the greatest for a while.” Dark said. “And then an...event happened one night and we soon realized that we cared for each other.” Dark spoke slowly as he thought about every word that came out of his mouth. 

“An event? What kind of...oh, my God!” Annalise screeched when she realized what Dark was implying. “You two fu-”

“I did not say-”

“We fucked.” Anti cut off Dark who had interrupted Annalise. “It was a very angry fuck.” 

“Anti!” 

“Dad!” 

“She asked!” Anti protested. “I’m going to be honest about this, she’s seventeen, she knows about sex.” Anti faced Annalise. “We hated each other at first, constant fights, verbal and physical. We couldn’t even be in the same room for five minutes before I either tacked Dark to the ground or he pinned me to the wall. The number of times that meeting room table has been broken because of us is too many to count.” 

“You hated each other? You two? Mr. and Mr. ‘I love you’ five times a day’, hated each other?” Annalise held a hand out in shock. “How?” 

“Opposites attract, but sometimes opposites have difficulties connecting.” Dark said. 

“One night Dark came over and after some more yelling...things got a little heated.” Anti sang the last part. 

“How romantic.” Annalise said with heavy sarcasm. 

“Relationships can start off on strange terms.” Dark stated. “But the strange ones are usually the ones that last.” 

“Did you two just decide to be together after the ‘event’ or something?” Annalise asked.

“Kind of?” Anti answered. “I mean, it wasn’t directly after it. It was the next day when I went out and realized that I did like Dark and I showed up at the Iplier house and kissed him.” 

“Thus beginning several years of a lot of confusion.” Dark added. 

“You came into our lives right when we were finally getting everything figured out.” Anti said. “You actually helped us grow even closer and fix a few problems that we had.” 

“Glad to have been of assistance.” Annalise said with a soft laugh. “So, what did you do before you got together then?” 

“I wasn’t with anyone before your dad.” Dark stated.

“I didn’t really ‘date’, to put it nicely.” Anti weakly chuckled. 

“You were a fuck-boy?” Annalise groaned.

“I prefer the term ‘man-whore’. I didn’t destroy any hearts, just their beds.” Anti winked at Dark when he said the last part. 

“I never want to hear you refer to yourself as a whore again.” Dark lightly slapped Anti’s leg. 

“What? I was. It’s not a bad thing, I’m not ashamed of it. It’s just sex.” Anti shrugged.

“Annalise, sex is more than what your dad is implying. You need to be smart about it, careful about it and wait until your at least forty to even think about it.” Dark stated, glaring at Anti when he started laughing. “This is a very serious matter!” 

“Can we change the subject, please?” Annalise was not having fun watching her dads discussing sex in front of her. 

“How about I answer your original question?” Anti offered. “If you really want to ask somebody out. Just do it. Be blunt. You can be cute and fancy about it if you want to, but sometimes just walking up to the person and saying ‘you want to get dinner with me’ is the easiest way to do it.” Annalise perked up a little while Anti was speaking. 

“Do you think I could do that?” Annalise asked.

“You’re our child, you can handle asking someone out.” Anti chuckled. 

“Thanks, dad.” Annalise smiled and stood up. “I’ll be right back, gotta pee.” She added before leaving the kitchen. 

“Dr. Iplier.” Anti stated when he heard the bathroom door shut. 

“What about him?” Dark asked in a huff, not happy about what Anti had done. 

“I think it’s Dr. Iplier.” Anti said. 

“Really? What gives you that idea?” 

“Think about it. A stone-faced doctor who can cure any disease in the world, but he can’t find a cure for his own broken heart.” Anti dramatically posed. 

“You’re not borrowing books from Chase anymore.” Dark said. 

“I read them for the plot.” Anti protested with a fake pout 

“Yeah. Sure you do, dear, sure you do.” Dark teased.

“I could show you a few of those plot points.” Anti said in a whisper, tilting his head and smirking. 

“Does that make me the doctor?” Dark asked, stepping over to Anti and putting himself between his husband’s legs. 

“I’ll be your nurse, sir.” Anti chuckled as Dark wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him in close. 

“Shut up, nurse.” Dark growled before giving Anti a kiss. 

“Really!? Right in front of the salad!?” Annalise shouted when she came back into the kitchen. 


	11. Party!

“I got it.” Anti called when there was a knock on the front door.

“Hey, there Glitchy!” Wilford greeted loudly as he entered the house, the Ipliers and Septiceyes following him. 

“Do not call me-why are you here?” Anti shut the door and pushed his way through the crowd to get to Wilford. 

“Hi, Uncle Wil...and everyone else.” Annalise placed her pencil down in the center of the textbook, she was sitting on the living room couch and using the coffee table to hold her school supplies as she did her homework. 

“Did you invite everyone over without telling me?” Dark asked as he stepped out of his office. 

“Why is it always an assumption that I invited them over? You’ve done it too.” Anti huffed. 

“It wasn’t me.” Annalise held her hands up as she stood. 

“We’re here to celebrate!” Wilford clapped his hands and a bottle of wine appeared in them. He tossed the bottle to Annalise. 

“Celebrate what?” Dark asked, snatching the bottle away from Annalise. “And don’t give my child alcohol.” 

“You can give it to me.” Anti chuckled and took the wine with a spin. 

“Today’s is Annalise’s first official day punishment free.” Wilford explained. 

“Yes, but-” Dark stopped when a cork hit the side of his face. He turned his head to see Anti with a now open bottle of wine and a nervous smile on his lips. 

“Sorry.” Anti chuckled. 

“You’re lucky I love you.” Dark sighed. “And Wil, we are not having a party. It’s a school night.” 

“You just don’t want the Ipliers here.” Wilford teased. 

“It’s a school night.” Dark said in a firmer tone. 

“Why wouldn’t Dark want the Ipliers here?” Bing asked. 

“You’ll learn soon enough Bingy-boy.” Wilford clapped Bing on the back. “Let’s get some music going!” Wilford yelled before running into Dark’s office. 

“We are not having a party!” Dark shouted, going to his office as well. “Wilford!” Dark’s next shout was cut off by loud music blasting from a radio. 

“Party!” Wilford ran back into the living room with the radio over his head. 

“Party!” Everyone but Dark and Annalise shouted back. 

“I’ve lost control over my own house!” Dark huffed. 

“Come on, Darky-baby. Have some fun.” Anti said in a low tone and handed his husband a glass of wine. 

“It’s going to take a lot more than one glass for me to ‘have some fun’.” Dark scoffed. 

“I’m sure Bubblegum’s got an endless supply.” Anti chuckled. 

“If a single drop gets near Annalise-”

“Yes, dear. No booze for Ann.” Anti took Dark’s hand and raised the glass to his mouth. “Now, drink.” 

Annalise wasn’t sure what to do at first, but when she saw her father drinking, she decided to have some fun as well. 

“Party!” She screamed and climbed on top of the coffee table, laughing as she leaped off and landed on Jackieboy’s back. 

“We’re off!” Jackieboy started running around the room. 

“Don’t drop her!” Dark was about to go after the man, but Anti clung to his arm. 

“She’ll be fine.” Anti sang, nuzzling his face against Dark’s shoulder. “Relax.”

“I’ll relax when I’m dead.” Dark growled.

“You are dead, honey.” Anti teased. 

“You know what I mean by that.” Dark sighed, taking a long sip from his glass. 

Time slowly went by and more and more drinks went down all of the ego’s throats. Annalise was actually happy she was completely sober, everyone drunk was  _ hilarious _ . 

Dr. Schneepelstein’s accent was even thicker now and he kept asking what things were in English after saying said thing in English. Dr. Iplier laughed at literally everything Bim was saying, even though Bim’s jokes were nothing more than random sound effects that didn’t correlate to the story at all. Google was only a little tipsy, but it was enough to relax him a good bit. Host was sitting on the couch and lazily narrating everything, the usual tenseness in his shoulders gone. Chase was very loudly yelling in shock as Marvin did very simple magic tricks, most of them not working but still amazing the very drunk man. ‘Alaka-booze’ was Marvin’s new catchphrase of the night. Jackieboy man was crying, happy crying, but still crying while Bing was showing his cat videos. Bing had only had a few drinks, barely enough to give him a buzz, but he was clearly enjoying himself.  

“Dance with me, Dark!” Wilford yelled before taking Dark’s hand, moving him away from a very giggly Anti, and dragging him to the center of the room. Wilford took his glass and placed it on the coffee table before he started to flail his body about. Dark had drunk several bottles of wine on his own but kept his composure. 

“Yeah. No.” Dark stated and crossed his arms. 

“Chase and Marvin are dancing.” Wilford protested, gesturing towards the two Septiceyes who were now standing and doing silly movements towards each other. 

“Go, Father, go!” Annalise cheered. 

“I am not...damn it.” Dark sighed when a certain song began to play. 

“ _ Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it _ .” Wilford sang with the song. “We have to do the dance. Gotta bring back the late nineties to this house.” 

“No one wants to see the dance.” Dark said. 

“I wanna see the dance!” Anti called. 

“Give me my glass.” Dark held out his hand and everyone cheered when he downed what remained and tossed it onto the couch. “Good thing I’m drunk.” Dark said and undid the button of his suit jacket before he and Wilford stood next to each other, waiting for rap. The room broke out into more cheers when Dark and Wilford began doing the line dance. 

The cheers became shouts of shock when Wilford and Dark broke out of the line dance and started to dance with each other. Dark took Wilford’s hand and spun the other man around several times before catching him and lifting him up into the air. Wilford did a toe touch and landed in a crouch, allowing Dark to leap over him. Wilford stood back up while Dark was now crouching and he looped his arms under Dark’s shoulders and threw him up, helping Dark get into the air and flip over him. Wilford put his hands between his hands so Dark could grab them and pull him into a flip as well. They went back to doing the line dance as they walked around each other, eventually standing face-to-face. They hooked their legs together by the ankles and continued the arm movements while jumping in a circle. Wilford started laughing and ended up losing his balance and falling over. 

“That’s not how the dance ends.” Dark said with a laugh as well. 

“Just pose, they’ll never know.” Wilford said, kicking a leg into the air. 

“Hey, Darky.” Anti sang as he went over to Dark, leaning against him and poking a finger against his chest. “We can show everyone our dance.” He giggled. 

“Please tell me that’s not an innuendo!” Annalise yelled. 

“Anything’s an innuendo if you try hard enough.” Anti chuckled as the song changed. 

“Slow song?” Wilford said from the floor. “Who puts a slow song in a party mix?” 

“Shall we?” Dark asked, placing his hands on Anti’s waist. 

“Time to dance.” Anti looped his arms around Dark’s neck. 

“Partner up!” Wilford yelled, getting to his feet. 

Annalise watched as the egos paired up, not expecting them to actually do so. The wonders of alcohol. Dr. Iplier and Dr. Schneepelstein twirled around, their lab coats making their movements a lot more graceful than what they actually were. Chase and Marvin were laughing as they attempted to not step on each other. Google rolled his eyes when Bim stood in front of him with his arms out, eyebrows raised in a question, but took the offer and danced with the show host. Jackieboy went over to Host and pulled him to his feet, not wanting him to feel left out and he did little sidesteps with the blind Iplier. Wilford jumped on top of the coffee table, holding a wine glass upside down and he sang into it. 

“ _ They say we're young and we don't know. We won't find out until we grow _ .” Wilford swayed a little as the words came out. 

“M’lady?” Bing bowed a little and held a hand out towards Annalise. Annalise let out a very awkward laugh, face burning before she swallowed and took the hand. 

“ _ I got flowers in the spring _ .” Anti sang softly.

“ _ I got you to wear my ring _ .” Dark sang as well. 

The song was slowly fading away and Dark was unable to control the large smile on his face. Anti was smiling back at him and Dark was in love with this moment. 

“Sure Anna-bell, I’d get dinner with you.” 

The moment was ruined. 

“Bing!?” Dark shouted, the calm air becoming tense. “The crush is Bing!?” 

“Crush?” Bing tilted his head. He looked at Annalise, then at Dark, then back at Annalise and then it clicked. “Oh...oh!” Bing quickly removed his hands when he realized they were on Annalise’s hips and Dark was giving him a very harsh glare. 

“I thought you would have figured that out sooner.” Wilford said as he now sat on the coffee table. 

“Out of all of them to have a crush on, it’s Bing!?” 

“I think we should call this a night.” Anti wrapped his arms around one of Dark’s. 

“Who I have a crush on is none of your concern!” Annalise snapped. 

“Wilford, take us back to the house.” Google said. 

“I wanna know how this ends.” Wilford said back. 

“You have more intelligence than this, Annalise! You’re a virus, he’s a search engine! What would your child be!? A pop-up link!?” Dark rubbed his face, making Anti let him go.

“You’re being an asshole!”  Annalise yelled. 

“If being an asshole means I’m preventing my daughter from breaking her heart, then I’ll be a fucking asshole!” 

“You’re not being fair!”

“I’m being logical!” 

“Fine! I’ll just fuck someone I hate and then marry them like you did!” The tense air stiffened even more with Annalise’s comment. 

“Wilford. Now.” Google said harshly. 

“Fine.” Wilford sighed. 

“Wait, Anna-” Bing was cut off by Wilford snapping his fingers and making all of the other egos vanish. 

“Annalise.” Dark said, taking several deep breaths to calm himself. 

“You said it yourself. That love is complicated. That opposites attract.” Annalise was on the verge of crying. “You have scared away every single boy I have brought home. Why won’t you at least let me take a chance?” 

“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Dark said. 

“I’m a big girl. I can handle it.” Annalise stated. “I’m not that three-year-old you found on your doorstep anymore.” 

“Why can’t you be?” Dark’s voice cracked.

There was a long silence. Annalise just shook her head and walked away, going to her room and shutting the door. 

“Dark…” Anti wasn’t sure what to say. 

“Why can’t she be?” Dark asked as his shoulders slumped. 

“Let’s go to bed, Darky.” Anti gave Dark a quick kiss and lead him to their room. 


	12. Let Her Go

“Tommy’s gross.” A six-year-old Annalise stated, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks. “He likes spiders and spiders are gross.” 

“I thought you liked Tommy.” Anti said as he adjusted the camera. 

“That we before he tried to give me a spider.” Annalise scrunched up her face in disgust. 

“Boys are gross, aren’t they?” Dark said from his chair, lowering the book he had been reading. 

“Yeah! They’re all gross!” Annalise declared. 

“Now, not all boys are gross.” Anti went over to Dark. “I’m not gross, am I?”

“You’re not a boy, you’re daddy.” Annalise protested. 

“Yeah, Anti. You’re daddy.” Dark winked.

“Actually, Ann, you’re right. Boys are gross.” Anti tapped Dark’s nose. “And gross boys don’t get any rewards from daddy.” 

“But daddy might get something from papa.” Dark chuckled with a smirk. 

“I thought we weren’t supposed to make innuendos in front of the child?” Anti hummed. 

“I am doing no such thing.” Dark hummed back and gave Anti a kiss. 

“You two are being gross!” Annalise squealed. 

“I’ll show you gross, come here, princess.” Anti started going over to Annalise. 

“No!” Annalise giggled and took off. 

Dark watched as the recording of himself laughed and got up, going over to the camera and turning it off, leaving him to look at a black screen. He glanced at the clock and quickly stood, realizing that he was late. 

“Annalise?” He called out, wondering where she was. Did Anti take her to school? Dark saw a piece of paper sitting on the coffee table.

_ ‘Got a ride from Tiana’ _

She was avoiding him. Great. 

“Why do you look shocked?” Anti asked, stepping into the room and only wearing pajama bottoms. 

“You should still be in bed.” Dark said, dropping the paper and not facing his husband. Anti was called in for a last minute job last night and has only been home for two hours. 

“I have all day to nap.” Anti stated.

“Did you find-”

“We’ll talk about that later.” Anti crossed his arms. “You were an asshole last night.” 

“I know.” Dark said. 

“You said some dickish things.” 

“I know.” 

“You made Annalise cry.”

“I know.” 

“And you’re an idiot.” Anti waited for a response but didn’t get one. “You’re supposed to say ‘I know, dear’.” Still no response. “Dark.” Anti stepped over so he was in front of Dark now, but Dark’s head was down. “How many times do I have to tell you that she is seventeen. Seventeen-year-olds get crushes and most of them only go as long as their father’s tell them no. If this crush is really nothing and just her trying to get back at daddy, then you need to stop fighting.” Anti cupped Dark’s cheeks and tilted his head up so he would look at him. “She is going to make mistakes. She is going to get hurt. Our job is to be there for her and help her. We can’t protect her from everything.” 

“Why not?” Dark asked, taking Anti’s wrists and lowering them. “We’ve been protecting her for over thirteen years. We’re her parents.”

“And as parents, we need to let go. She can’t rely on us for everything. You want her to go to college, right? How is she supposed to go out on her own if she thinks her dads will take care of everything? She’s going to have to get up on her own and go to her classes. She’s going to have to do her assignments. She’s going to need to meet new people and form bonds with them.” Anti shook his head. “Do you think that I want her to be grown? Do you really think that I don’t want her to be that little girl we took in? I still miss the days she called me ‘daddy’, when she would run into our room Christmas morning and bounce on our bed, yelling about how Santa came and that she was a good girl that year.” Anti found himself choking up. “I would love if she was still too short to reach the top cabinet. If she still wore that pink tutu I have hanging in our closet. If she...if she…” Anti began to cry. “Before she knew that she was a killer.” Dark said nothing and hugged Anti. “We have to let go. It fucking sucks, but we have to let go.” 

“We do...don’t we?” Dark sighed. 

_ x~x~x _

“Annalise?” Dark said softly as he knocked on the open door, seeing Annalise sitting at her desk and typing away on her laptop.

“Here to insult me some more? Wasn’t last night enough?” Annalise said without looking at Dark, the hurt very clear in her voice. 

“I’m sorry, princess.” Dark’s apology made Annalise stop typing. “I…” Dark let out a deep sigh. “I was stupid last night.” 

“You were drunk.” Annalise said, still not facing Dark. 

“I shouldn’t have said what I said.” 

“What was your first clue?” Annalise stood up and went over to her bed, packing up the school supplies she had laying out on it. 

“I’ll be honest in saying that I was being cruel because I love you.” Dark walked over to the bed as well. 

“Questioning my intelligence and implying that my future child would be a pop-up link is a great way to show that you love me.” Annalise zipped her backpack shut and after a moment of silence she shook her head and sighed. “Although, I wasn’t the nicest either.” She admitted. “And I didn’t even have any booze in me.” 

“Teenage years are something.” Dark turned around and leaned against the bed. 

“Like you know what it’s like to be a teenager.” Annalise huffed.

“I was around during the seventies.” Dark chuckled. “Let’s just say I’ve had my fair share of idiotic mistakes because of substances.” 

“You were a stoner!?” Annalise gasped. 

“I will neither confirm nor deny that accusation.” Dark said. 

“Was Uncle Wil one?” Annalise asked.

“Your Uncle Wil was something.” Dark laughed. 

“Come on! I need details!” Annalise lightly slapped at Dark’s arm. “I’ve heard rumors that he had an afro, please tell me that’s true.” 

“Whatever could you mean?” Dark sang. 

“No way! He had a ‘fro!? How!?” Annalise started playing with her own hair. “Was his hair still pink? A pink afro? That would be so cool!” 

“You should see what your father looked like during his punk phase.” Anti said from the doorway, a large smile on his face and a book in his hands.

“You had a punk phase?” Annalise asked with a laugh. 

“He had a tongue piercing and everything.” Anti handed Annalise the book he was holding. “I wish you would have kept that, I would have loved to feel it against my-” 

“Dad!” Annalise quickly cut Anti off. 

“I wasn’t going to say dick!” Anti protested. 

“Why is it that I don’t believe you?” Dark and Annalise said in unison. 

“That was scary.” Anti said before opening the book in Annalise’s hands. “And there’s Bubblegum’s afro.” He said as he pointed at a picture. 

“You had long hair?” Annalise asked Dark. “And you wore it in a ponytail?” 

“It was fashionable at the time.” Dark stated. Annalise just laughed and continued looking through the book, not seeing the sad smiles on Anti’s and Dark’s lips when she reached the photos of herself when she was a lot younger. 


	13. First Date

“Come on, Darky, show some joy.” Anti said, poking at Dark’s cheeks. 

“This is a very serious matter.” Dark stated, hands behind his back and chest puffed out. 

“It’s a date Dark, not marriage.” Anti laughed when Dark’s eyes grew. “It’s the first date, don’t get ahead of yourself.” Anti sighed when Dark was still stiff. “Do you remember our first date?” He asked, running his hand along Dark’s chest, trying to get him to release the tension Dark was holding. “Our first, official date?” 

“You wore torn jeans and a t-shirt to a five-star restaurant.” Dark shook his head at the memory. 

“The shirt had a tie on it.” Anti protested. 

“A printed tie is not the same as a real one.” Dark stated. 

“You were just upset that you couldn’t do this when we got to the Iplier house.” Anti lightly grabbed Dark’s tie and pulled on it, pressing his lips against his husband’s. 

“There were a lot of things I wanted to do that I couldn’t.” Dark chuckled. 

“The Jims were our children before we got Annalise.” Anti laughed. “‘The demons are procreating!’” Anti waved his hands and took several large steps in a circle as he spoke. 

“The number of times those two had walked into the room and interrupted us…” Dark sighed and rubbed his face. 

“We had our shooties out.” Anti said with a wink. 

“My shooty would have been tucked away inside of you if they would have waited an extra five minutes.” Dark wrapped his arm around Anti’s waist. 

“We’ll have all evening to play with our shooties.” Anti lifted a leg and chuckled when Dark held it up by his thigh. 

“Dad, can you help me zip up my dress?” Annalise called from her room. 

“Coming, princess.” Anti called back. “And hopefully I’ll be doing that several times when she’s gone.” He added in a softer tone before stepping away from Dark. 

“If your having problems with the dress, perhaps a nice pair of baggy jeans and a turtleneck would be better?” Dark suggested as Anti went to Annalise’s room. 

“It’s over seventy degrees! I’d die!” Annalise protested, her voice being louder for a moment when her door was opened and muffled back up when it closed. 

“You could always just stay home…” Dark said under his breath, stiffening back up when there was a knock on the door. Dark sniffed and straightened out his suit jacket before heading over to the door. He scrunched his eyebrows in disapproval when he saw Bing. 

“Uh...hey, Dark.” Bing nervously chuckled. His usual sunglasses were on, along with a pair of jeans and sneakers, but he at least was wearing a black button-up shirt. 

“Where’s your tie?” Dark asked. 

“My...I-I don’t own one.” Bing was slumped in fear. 

“Get in.” Dark moved to the side to allow Bing into his home. “Wait here.” He added before going into his bedroom.

“I’m gonna piss myself.” Bing said to himself, flinching when Dark’s door closed a lot louder than necessary and a gold tie was thrown at him. “Uh…”

“You don’t know how to tie a tie, do you?” Dark sighed when Bing just nodded his head. 

“I could look it up-”

“Tying a tie is not something you learn from the internet.” Dark huffed and went over to Bing, taking the tie from him. “It is something you need to be taught in person or else it will never be done correctly.” Dark spoke as he looped the tie around Bing’s neck and tied it. “And you are not wearing your sunglasses.” 

“But, my eyes.” Bing weakly protested as the sunglasses were removed from his face. 

“Annalise’s turns orange when she’s emotional, your yellow iris’ literally mean nothing.” Dark stated. “And she’s seen them before...she likes them.” Dark added the last part as a mutter, exhaling harshly through his nose when Bing perked up. “Now. I’m going to tell you a few things.” Bing went back to his slump when Dark’s eyes harden into a glare, moving closer and using the little bit of height he had on Bing to his advantage. “You do anything to hurt my little girl and they won’t be able to find the body. Or at least, what remains of the body.” Dark grinned when he saw Bing swallow thickly. “And, whatever you do to my daughter. I will do to you.” Dark growled the last part, glad to hear a light whimper from Bing. “Do I make myself clear?” 

“Y-Yes.” Bing stuttered. 

“She’s ready.” Anti sang, not seeing the fear in Bing’s eyes as Dark stepped away from him. “Ta-da!” 

“Dude…” Was Bing’s only comment while Dark felt his entire begin to burn. He didn’t know if he wanted to cry or scream. 

“Hi, Bing!” Annalise greeted with a large smile, her dress clinging to the upper part of her body and slowly loosened into a flirty poof that hung right above her knees. The neckline was a little low for Dark’s liking, but her shoulders were covered by sleeves that went to the bend of her elbow. Her long hair was put up into a messy bun with several strands loose and framing her face that had on more makeup than Dark thought she even owned. He remembered Signe teaching Annalise how to do eyeliner, but he never imagined she would be able to do it herself so perfectly. The only jewelry she had on was a pair of silver butterfly earrings and the bracelet Dark had bought her. “Father, are you going to cry?” Annalise asked.

“Don’t you dare.” Anti went over to Dark. “Because if you cry, I’ll cry.”

“I don’t cry.” Dark stated. 

“You cried at our wedding.” Anti teased. “Twice.” 

“Tears at a wedding is common.” Dark said. 

“We should get going or we’ll be late for our reservation.” Annalise said, going over to Bing. “Is that my father’s tie?” She asked. 

“Dark-” 

“Actually, I don’t need to know.” Annalise laughed before looping her arm through Bing’s. “Bye!” She sang. 

“Curfew is at eleven.” Dark called after them. 

“Call if you’re going to be late.” Anti added before the front door got shut. 

“They’re not going to be late.” Dark said with a hum. 

“You threatened him, didn’t you?” Anti asked in a sigh. 

“I would do no such thing.” Dark stated. 

“Your aura’s flickering.” Anti reached into his pocket as he spoke. “Here.” Anti handed Dark a small box. 

“What is this?” Dark pressed the red button on it. 

“Let me guess, he said ‘anything you do to my daughter, I’ll do to you’?” Annalise’s voice came out of the box.

“Basically.” Bing’s chuckle came out as well. 

“How?” Dark asked. 

“Who do you think got her those earrings?” Anti winked. 

“We can’t listen in on her conversation.” Dark said, looking at the box.

“Of course not.” Anti said.

“It’s an invasion of privacy.” 

“Absolutely.”

“She’s seventeen.” 

“Yep.”

“Do you want to go to the park after dinner instead of watching a movie?” Annalise asked. 

“I’ll go get us some popcorn.” Anti said when he saw Dark’s face. 


	14. Love Hurts

 

“Bing is being a real gentleman.” Anti chuckled, eating the last few pieces of popcorn from the large bowl that sat between him and Dark. 

“He’s acting.” Dark stated. 

“Maybe he’s behaving a little more than he usually would, but he knows that if Anna comes back crying, he’s literally dead.” Anti grunted as he stood up with the bowl. “Want a second round? You didn’t get to eat much of it.” 

“What was that?” The curiosity in Annalise’s voice caught both Dark and Anti’s attention. 

“Nothing.” Bing said under his breath.

“No, it wasn’t nothing. You said ‘Why me?’. Why you for what?” 

“Just...out of all the egos to crush on, why me?” 

“It’s…” Annalise held out the word, thinking. “I don’t know. I just like you.” 

“Maybe we should turn it off.” Anti suggested. 

“How? I mean...I’m a fuck-up. A default.” There was a slapping sound. “Okay, ow.” 

“Don’t call yourself that. You’re not a fuck-up or a default.” Annalise’s tone was similar to Dark’s when he scolded Anti for talking bad about himself. “You’re funny and smart and cool and…” Annalise let out a soft squeak, the sound she’d make when she realizes that she was rambling or saying something she shouldn’t.

“You really think that?” Anti and Dark could practically hear the blush. 

“Yeah. I do. You might look like my father but you’re nothing like him. You don’t have a stick up your ass.” Anti saw the hurt in Dark’s eyes. “You’re not controlling or possessive or over-protective or…” Annalise let out a sigh. 

“You know he’s only like that to you because he loves you. He’s an ass to the others because he’s a prick.” Bing said with a laugh, Dark’s eyes becoming a glare while Annalise lightly laughed.  

“I know he loves me.” Annalise said in a very soft and kind tone. “I love my father and my dad a lot. I hate it when we argue. I cry for hours and hours and avoid them for a good bit afterward because I don’t want them to see how red my eyes are.” There was a shuffling noise and half of the audio became a little muffled. 

“I...I…” Bing stuttered. 

“Her head is on his shoulder.” Anti explained when Dark looked confused. “Audio is only half out, the sound is recorded through her earrings and Bing is sputtering up a storm.” He explained.

“The stars look pretty.” Bing said, voice a little strained. 

“Yeah, they do. I’m glad you agreed to go to the park.” 

“Do you think I could tell little Anna-bell no?” Bing chuckled. 

“I have another question.” 

“Fire away.” 

“You wanna fuck?” 

“What!?” Dark yelled. Anti went silent and Bing was holding out an ‘ah’ of fear. 

“Don’t worry, I’m joking. I just wanted to give my dads a heart attack.” Annalise laughed. “You forgot to camouflage your pixels, dad.” Annalise sang before the audio cut out. 

“I wonder when she realized that she was being listened to?” Anti asked while Dark laid out on the couch, an arm draped over his eyes. 

“I think my heart actually stopped beating.” Dark groaned. 

“I guess that’s what we get for invading her privacy.” Anti shrugged. “Bing’s probably still screaming.” 

“I can’t ground her for that, can I?” Dark asked in a sigh. 

“We were in the-” Anti stopped when the front door was knocked on. “Were we expecting anyone?” Anti asked as he went over to the door. 

“I wasn’t expecting anything tonight.” Dark lowered his arm and stared at the ceiling, chest still aching. 

“Oh, hey Marv...Marv?” Anti held his arms up when Marvin suddenly hugged him, saying something into his chest, but his voice was too muffled to be understood. “Dark, can you get the bowl?” Anti called out. 

“Is Marvin injured?” Dark asked as he got up and walked over to Anti. 

“I don’t see any blood.” Anti commented, handing Dark the bowl and laying his arms around Marvin. “Hey, Marv? Marvy? What’s up?” 

“I’m an idiot.” Marvin said with a sniff, lifting his face to look at Anti and showing the virus that he had tears forming in his eyes. 

“Dark, we’re going to need chocolate.” Anti said. “Let’s go to the couch.” He gently removed Marvin’s arms from him and lead him to the living room. “What happened?” Anti asked, coaxing Marvin into sitting. Who knew having a daughter would make this kind of stuff easier to handle?

“I...I’m just an idiot. I’ve been an idiot for over a decade.” Marvin spoke to his hands, not looking at Anti anymore. 

“You’re not an idiot.” Anti gently rubbed Marvin’s shoulders, nodding a thanks to Dark as the demon placed a plate of chocolates on the coffee table. 

“Yes, because being in love with a married man is the definition of intelligence.” Marvin stiffened after those words came out of his mouth. “I-I mean…”

“Finally admitting it?” Anti asked in a light tease. 

“No! I mean...I-I just...I…” Marvin put his hands over his face and started crying. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Anti said softly as he hugged Marvin to his chest, rubbing his back. “Let it out, just let it out.” 

“Why is he still with her?” Marvin asked through his sobs. “Why is he staying with someone that makes him so sad? They don’t even live together. They rarely speak and whenever she is over to drop off the kids, she’s so cruel about it.” Anti rested his head on top of Marvin’s, letting him speak freely. “She gives him dirty looks and makes comments about him that the kids don’t get, but we all do. He says that he loves her, that she and the kids are everything to him...does he really love her?” Marvin wasn’t sobbing anymore, but his voice began to rise. “After everything that she’s done, he loves her!? He hates himself because of her! I’ve held him while he cried because of something that  _ bitch  _ has done!” Ant could feel Marvin shaking. “She hates his hair, his clothes, his YouTube channel. She hates everything about Chase that makes him Chase! She hates everything that I love about him! His smile, his laugh, his excitement, his everything!” Anti could feel the teardrops hitting his leg. “It’s not fair!  _ It’s not fair! _ ” Marvin screamed before curling up and began sobbing again. 

“I’m going to have a word with Chase.” Dark said.

“Dark, wait.” Anti sighed. “You can’t force him into something like this.” 

“I’m not going to force him. I’m simply going to fill him in on the situation and I’m hoping that he’ll make the right choice.” Dark stated. 

“You’re not saying anything about this without Marvin’s permission and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want you threatening Chase because the man is oblivious to Marvin’s feelings.” Anti said. “And what happened to being on team ‘Chase is married’?” 

“That was before…” Dark looked at Marvin to complete his answer. 

“Marv, do you want to crash here tonight? I’ll call the Septiceyes and let them know where you are.” Anti said, releasing Marvin so he could look at his face. Marvin just nodded silently and let himself be lead to one of the spare bedrooms. Dark stood where he was and waited until Anti got back. 

“I was sure you’d be on your way to the Septiceye house the moment Marvin opened his mouth.” Dark said. 

“It’s taking everything in my being not to go over there and knock some sense into Chase, but I know it won’t solve anything to do that.” Anti said. “I understand how Marvin feels.” 

“How so?” 

“The number of times I’ve cried because of you is too many.” Anti said with a sad chuckle. 

“What? Why?” 

“It was when I first realized that I loved you.” Anti took Dark’s hand. “I was scared. I wondering if you loved me. If our relationship was just sex and nothing more. If you would leave me the moment you found something better. It was terrifying.” 

“You don’t have those fears anymore, right?” Dark placed his other hand on Anti’s, covering it.

“I still have those moments.” Anti admitted. “Lying awake in the middle of the night, watching you sleep and wondering if you would ever leave me. If you’d get sick of me and walk away.” 

“I would never-”

“I know. I know...but it doesn’t stop the thoughts.” Anti wasn’t ready for Dark to suddenly move. Dark wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close while the other went to his cheek.

“Listen to me. I would never,  _ never _ , leave you. You are my everything. My morning, noon and night. I wake up every day and smile when I see your face. I hold you as tight as I can when we sleep because I want to hold you forever. I never want anything to take us apart. I am willing to do anything for you. I adopted and fell in love with our daughter because of you. I gave up on getting revenge for you. I asked you to marry me because I want to spend every single moment of my life with you. I could never imagine a time that I wouldn’t want you by my side. I love you, I have loved you and I will always love you. Don’t you ever dare to think otherwise.” Dark ended his speech with a deep kiss. Both of them were unaware of Marvin standing at the door of the spare room, having overheard everything. Marvin placed a hand on his own face and slumped down to the ground, curling up into a ball and was crying again. 

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The words were like daggers piercing into Marvin’s heart. 


	15. Angry Kitty

 

“Tots, tots. Tater tots. I want tots.” Annalise sang as she skipped into the kitchen. “Gonna stuff some tots in my face.” She continued singing as she opened the freezer and pulled out a bag tater tots. 

“Someone’s happy.” Anti chuckled as he sat on the counter, peeling an orange. 

“What? Me? No.” Annalise giggled and grabbed a plate. 

“I’m guessing the date went well?” Anti asked with a raised brow. 

“You heard most of it, eavesdropper.” Annalise stuck her tongue out. 

“What? Me? No.” Anti mocked Annalise’s tone and moved to the side to avoid getting hit by a thrown tater tot. 

“How’s Uncle Kitty?” Annalise asked in a lower tone. 

“He’s still sleeping.” Anti answered quietly as well. 

“What happened last night?” 

“Can’t talk about it.”

“No permission?”

“None.” 

“Damn.” Annalise dumped some tater tots on a plate and threw it into the microwave, setting the timer. “It’s Uncle Chase, ain’t it?” 

“You know tots taste better cooked in the oven?” Anti pointed as he spoke.

“I want my tots now and don’t avoid the question.” Annalise put her hands on her hips. 

“As an Irishman-”

“You’re a virus. Did Chase fuck up?” 

“Chase didn’t do anything.” Anti pulled his orange apart. 

“That’s worse than fucking up.” Annalise sighed. 

“Everything's being handled, alright? You don’t need to worry about it.” Anti bit into one of the slices. 

“But-”

“You have your own things to worry about. Like your father killing Bing.” Anti chuckled. “Don’t think I didn’t see that blush when you came in.” 

“I..” Annalise perked up when the microwave began beeping. “My tots!” Annalise quickly got her food and ran out of the kitchen. 

“I won’t tell.” Anti called after her. 

“Tell what?” Dark asked, walking in after dodging a running Annalise. 

“That she and Bing kissed.”

“They what!?” 

“Oops, did I say that?” Anti laughed. 

“I’m going to-”

“You’re not going to do anything. It was just a kiss. They didn’t fuck...yet.” Anti said the last part with a wink, laughing at Dark’s facial reaction. “Calm down, it’s fine.” Dark was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. 

“If Dr.Schneepestein is at the door crying about Dr. Iplier or anyone crying about anyone, I’m moving us to a different house.” Dark said as he went to the door. 

“Why would Schneep be crying about Dr. Iplier?” Anti asked.

“I don’t know. They're just the first people that came to mind.” Dark admitted and opened the door. “Chase?” 

“Hey, I came over to see how Marv was doing. Anti said he was sick.” Chase said, adjusting his hat. 

“Come on in.” Dark moved aside to let Chase walk in. Anti and Dark both shared several looks that held a conversation with the phrases ‘what do we do?’, ‘I don’t know’ and ‘this is not going to end well’ on both of their faces. 

“Chase…” Marvin stepped out of the spare room, hair a mess and straightening his mask. 

“You feeling okay?” Chase asked, genuine concern in his voice. 

“Hey, Dark, I need to show you something.” Anti grabbed Dark’s arm and yanked him into the office.

“I’m fine.” Marvin’s voice was soft as he shuffled between his feet. 

“You kind of just ran out of the house yesterday, I got worried about you.” Chase said.

“I...I needed some fresh air.” Marvin rubbed at his arm. 

“You’re lying.” Chase stated. 

“What?”

“You’re doing the thing with your shoulder, the little twitch you do when you lie.” Chase explained, pointing at what he was talking about. 

“I’m not...alright. I just didn’t feel good.” Marvin wasn’t really lying, but it wasn’t the full truth. 

“So you went all the way to Anti’s house? You have a bedroom.” Chase chuckled. 

“I was running away from something that was making me feel bad.” Marvin muttered. 

“What were you running from? The only thing that was happening was me on the phone with Stacy...oh.” Chase rubbed a hand on the back of his head. “Was I being that loud?” 

“You were yelling. You’re a Septiceye, of course, you were loud.” Marvin scoffed. 

“Sorry. She’s just been a little...extra lately.” Chase let out a nervous laugh. 

“Lately?” Marvin huffed under his breath. “It’s fine.” He said, louder so Chase could hear him. 

“She’s just stressed about Penny’s-”

“Bullshit.” Marvin’s curse made Chase stopped. “She’s always like this.” 

“She’s my wife.”

“She’s blind.” Marvin ran a hand through his hair. “She’s blind to the wonderful person that you are. She’s blind to your humor, to your intelligence, to everything.” Marvin didn’t see Chase’s eyes going wide. “You’re an amazing person. You’re always going out of your way to make others happy, you protect us when you know you’re not as strong as all of us. You got hurt for me. You saved me. You saved me when you knew you might not make it if you did.”

“Marv…”

“You’re such a kind person. You always know what to say to make us...to make me feel better.” Marvin kept speaking even as Chase neared him. “You’re one of the best people I have ever met in my life. I’m so glad that I am a part of your life. You’re the best. You’re not worthless or pathetic or anything like that. You are a fantastic person, you are-” Marvin was stopped by Chase suddenly grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss. Chase and Marvin both just stared at each other, Chase still holding Marvin by the cheeks. 

“I…”

“You…” Marvin started to shake. “You...no...no...no…” Marvin grabbed Chase’s wrists and threw them off of him. “No! You can’t do that!” Marvin screamed. 

“Marv. I-”

“You can’t do that to me! You can’t keep saying that we’re just friends for over a fucking  _ decade  _ and then you kiss me out of nowhere!?” What could be seen of Marvin’s face was red from anger. “That’s not fair!” Tears were also forming in his eyes. “‘We’re just friends’, ‘I’m married’, ‘He’s my best bud’!” Marvin mocked Chase’s voice. “I have loved you for  _ years _ ! Years of staying in the background! Years of keeping my mouth shut whenever you complain about Stacy! Years of just waiting for you to realize that I actually care for you! But no! You were blind as well!” Marvin’s body trembled as he held back sobs. “I have been there for you! I am always supporting you! I laugh at your jokes! I stand by your side! I’d do anything for you! I always have! I-I just, fuck!” Marvin turned around and went back into the spare room, slamming the door shut. 

“Marv…” Chase stood there. Stunned. 

“Dude. You fucked up.” Annalise said from her doorway, popping a tater tot into her mouth. 


	16. I Called It!

 

“He’s officially missing.” Annalise said into her phone as she walked away from the high-school. 

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Anti asked, his voice coming out of the speaker. 

“Yeah. I’m in class.” Annalise lied, her body invisible to the school’s cameras. Pixel camouflage, who knew? 

“Ann, are you lying?” Anti asked in a sigh. 

“I would never.” Annalise threw her bag over the fence, she hated glitching while holding things, it felt too heavy.  

“You do realize that we get a call if you’re not in class.” Anti said. 

“You’re not going to get one.” Annalise said before glitching to the other side of the fence, picking her bag up. 

“Did you mess with the school’s phones?” Anti asked.

“Again. I would never do anything like that.” Annalise peeked over her shoulder and continued walking. The Phillips house was a good twenty minutes walk from the school. “How’s Uncle Kitty?” 

“He hasn’t left the room.” 

“And Chase?” 

“Asleep on the couch.” 

“Have you fed the children?” Annalise chuckled at her own joke. 

“Yes, Ann, I fed the children.” Anti huffed with a laugh. 

“Good. I’ll see you guys at home later.” Annalise stopped when she thought she heard something. 

“Make sure to get back by six, your Father’s making dinner tonight.” 

“Yeah...I’ll be back by six.” Annalise tilted her head, she could have sworn she heard something. 

“And Ann.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t don’t anything stupid.”

“Love you, too.” Annalise chuckled before hanging up, continuing her hike. 

She reached the house and began looking around. The police were already in and out by this point. There was nothing that they could get from the house, Anti was too good at his job. Annalise wasn’t going to look at the house, she was looking around the house. Wilford had shown her a few things about tracking, he admitted to not knowing where his skills came from and Dark prevented Annalise from asking any more questions beyond that, but she knew what to do at least. Annalise looked up, hearing the sound again. She tightened the straps of her backpack and took off towards the noise. Annalise could already hear Dark in her head 

‘What are you doing!?’, ‘Do you know how stupid this is!?’, ‘The last time you did something on your own, you almost got killed!’.

“Hello?” Annalise called out, finding herself in the center of a field. “Hello?” 

“Hello, um...hi? I…” Annalise turned around and saw a young man standing a few feet away from her, Elliot at his side. “Are you from the...people?” The man whispered that last word. 

“The people?” 

“Glitchers?” 

“Glitch-yes, yes.” Annalise went over to Elliot. “Is he okay?” 

“I’m not sure. He’s just been wandering around and I found him. My mother told me that he was the one spared from the Phillips killing because he’s the innocent one.” The man explained. 

“Who’s Elliot?” Elliot asked. 

“Shit. I did too much.” Annalise groaned. “Dad’s gonna kill me.” 

“Did too much of what?” The man asked.

“Nothing. Thank you for finding him.” 

“Mac.” Annalise raised a brow at the man. “My name’s Mac.”

“Oh…I’m Annalise.” Annalise took Elliot’s hand. “Thank you again, good-” 

“Will I get to see you again?” Mac asked, making Annalise let out a squeak. “You’re really pretty.”

“Uh...bye!” Annalise glitched away. 

_ x~x~x _

“No. I’m done.” Chase said into the phone. “I said I’m done.” 

“What is Chase doing?” Dark asked Anti, who was watching the man from down the hall. 

“I think he’s breaking up with Stacy.” Anti answered in a soft tone, not wanting to give away his position.

“That would be called a divorce, Anti.” Dark lowered his voice as well.

“Don’t say that word in this house.” Anti put a hand over Dark’s mouth, yelping and snatching it back. “Did you just lick me?”  

“You put your hand over my mouth.” Dark stated.

“You yell at me when I do that.” Anti pouted. 

“That’s because-”

“Because I’m sick of your shit, Stacy!” Chase’s shout stopped Anti’s and Dark’s little argument. “I’m sick of you treating me like constant shit! I have stayed with you for almost twenty years, fifteen of those were only for the kids! I have told myself over and over again that I loved you. That you were the only for me, but I have realized that I don’t love you. I  _ pity  _ you.”

“Oh damn.” Anti whispered. 

“I did love you at first. I loved you when our kids were born. But I now know that love began to fade when you showed that you never loved me.” Chase’s voice was steady as he spoke. “You just needed a man in your life so your mother would leave you alone. You just wanted someone to be there for you and not have to worry about them. You’re just a heartless bitch.” 

“Oh...I didn’t know he had that in him.” Dark muttered. 

“Yes. I’m doing this over the phone. No. I don’t care what you think.” Chase hung up his phone. “Holy fuck…” 

“Chase?” Marvin was now standing at the end of the room. 

“Maybe we should go to the store or something.” Dark looped his arm through Anti’s.

“Shopping sounds good.” Anti said and walked out with Dark. 

“Hey, Marv.” Chase greeted softly. Marvin silently went over the couch and sat down. “How much did you hear?” 

“All of it.” Marvin said. 

“Sorry. The Septiceye name makes it hard to keep it down.” Chase tried to chuckle, but it died off quickly. There was an awkward silence between them. 

“You left her.” Marvin finally spoke. 

“She was just paperwork.” Chase smile a little when Marvin weakly laughed. 

“What about the kids?” Marvin asked. 

“I have Dark on my side. I’m not worried about that.” Chase took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll probably end up seeing them more than I do now.” 

“Good. I’m glad.” Marvin picked at his fingers. 

“About what happened last night. I’m sorry.” Chase put his hat back on. “I shouldn’t have done that. I just kind of got caught up in the moment.” 

“I’m not complaining.” 

“You were already emotional and I probably did help and-wait, what?” Chase looked at Marvin, who had slumped over in embarrassment. 

“I said that I’m not complaining.” Marvin said in a very soft voice. 

“Oh.” Chase tilted his head when Marvin laughed.

“Years, Chase. I’ve been waiting for years for a kiss from you.” Marvin rubbed his arms. “Although, I imagined it in a better situation.” 

“I can do that.” Marvin squeaked when Chase placed a hand on his cheek, turning his face towards him. “I can make it better.” Chase said before leaning forward and pressing his lips against Marvin’s. “Better?” He asked when they parted. 

“Years.” Marvin whispered. Chase chuckled and adjusted himself so he was fully facing Marvin. One hand went to the back of Marvin’s head while the other went to Marvin’s waist to help him turn as well while he gave Marvin a deeper kiss than before. “Y-Years.” Marvin stuttered as Chase pushed him back and settled between his legs. 

“Years.” Chase agreed, going back in for another kiss. Marvin grabbed Chase’s hat and threw it across the room. He gripped at Chase’s hair and let out a shaky breath when he began to nip at his neck. 

“Dad, I-are you serious!?” Annalise yelled when she glitched into the house. 

“Oh, shit!” Chase cursed and fell off of the couch. 

“H-Hey, Anna.” Marvin greeted, slightly panting. 

“Do you have to use the couch!? We have spare rooms!” Annalise huffed. “Come on, Elliot.” Annalise lead, a very confused Elliot out of the room and to the kitchen. “I also called it!” She shouted. 


	17. I Did It

“Where did you go yesterday?” Tiana asked while she and Annalise were sitting in the classroom, waiting for the late bell to ring. 

“Nowhere.” Annalise answered.

“Lies.” Tiana leaned forward a little. “Elliot was found in his house yesterday with no memories of where he’s been.” 

“Was he?” Annalise asked, easily hiding the fact that she knew about all of this already, the memory of yesterday still fresh in her mind. 

_ ‘Easy fix.’ Anti had said ‘You took too many memories away and all I have to do is get those pixels that have the memories from you and put them back.’ Annalise stared at her father in confusion. “Our pixels are kind of like our cells. There’s a shit ton of them and we shed a shit ton every second and make new ones every second. Thankfully, we found him now, or else Elliot would be memoryless forever.’  _

Annalise hadn’t told Anti about Mac. That didn’t matter, all she wanted was to fix that mistake she had made of wiping Elliot’s brain clean. He’s been gone for over a month, where had he gone? What was he doing? Elliot had literally nothing in his head. He just knew how to breathe and speak. Mac had probably just found him wondering about and knew the person who hired Glitchers and was told the drop him off. 

“I wonder who made that call.” Tiana chewed her lip as she thought. 

“I bet it was the kidnapper getting a conscious.” Annalise chuckled, silently adding ‘or a virus girl that fucked up’.

“You’re hiding things from me, I know you are.” Tiana stated, a hint of hurt in her voice. 

“I-” Annalise stopped herself. She was. She was hiding so much from Tiana. The true faces of her family, her own true face. Tiana didn’t know who she actually was. What she did. What she craved. She’s been lying to her best friend since they were three. Annalise should tell her everything. She deserved to know everything. “I have been.” 

“Why would you hide things from me? I’m your best friend. We’re supposed to tell each other everything. I have never lied to you, why would you do that to me?” 

“I’m sorry. After school, I’ll explain everything, I promise.” Tiana wasn’t able to respond since the bell went off and the teacher immediately began talking. 

“Annalise Powell, please come to the main office. Annalise Powell, to the main office.” Annalise rolled her eyes when the class went ‘oh’. 

“You’re all hilarious.” Annalise scoffed and gathered her things. “After school.” She said to Tiana before stepping out. Annalise’s façade of calmness broke a little when she was alone. Were they confronting her about leaving yesterday? When did they actually pay attention to their students? “Dad?” Annalise had opened the door to the office and saw Anti, or Triston, as the school knew him, standing there with a bag in his hand. 

“Hey, honey. I’ll explain everything in the car.” Anti said, sorrow in his voice. Annalise could tell that it was faked and the light lift in his eyebrow was a signal that everything was fine. 

“Oh my God, what happened? Is everyone okay?” Annalise asked with wide eyes as she was lead out of the office. 

“Was the voice crack necessary?” Anti chuckled when they got out of the school. 

“I had to make it convincing.” Annalise flipped her hair over her shoulder. “What lie did you tell?” 

“Dead grandparent.” Anti answered.

“Again?” 

“You have four.” 

“I don’t have any.” Annalise watched as Anti looked at the school camera, smiling as it slowly became green. “So, what’s up?” 

“Glitchers has a job.” Anti chuckled. 

“Wait...does that mean?” Annalise perked up, almost jumping with joy. 

“You are not to tell Dark.” Anti warned, placing a hand on Annalise’s shoulder and glitching them away. 

“I need filled in.” Annalise said when they landed in front of a house she wasn’t familiar with. 

“I’ve seen you fidgeting. You’re getting restless. I know what you want, what you need and I wanted to do this sooner but you had to wait out your punishment and then the whole Elliot thing happened.” Anti reached into the bag he brought and dropping it after pulling out a box.    
“What’s this?” Annalise asked when she was given the box. 

“Wilford’s real birthday present.” Anti laughed a little when Annalise gasped after taking the lid off. 

“Holy shit.” Annalise said, taking out a gun that had butterflies engraved on it. 

“Dark didn’t want you to have it yet, but I’m sure having it for this occasion won’t be a bad thing.” Anti pointed at the house. “Simple job. One uninstall. No videos needed, just an image of the dead body. You shoot him. I’ll take the picture. You’ll absorb him and we’ll go home. Ready?” 

“Hell yeah.” Annalise laughed a little with excitement, becoming a cloud of orange pixels, and following Anti who was his own cloud of green ones. 

Finally.  _ Finally _ .

“Who are y-fuck!” The man screamed when Annalise shot him in the arm. Anti stood with his arms crossed, ready to jump in if needed. 

“Whoops. I missed.” Annalise chuckled before firing again, hitting the man’s other arm. 

“Why!?” The man cried, falling to his knees. “W-why?” The man whimpered when Annalise pressed the gun to his forehead, making him turn his head up. 

“Because you fucked up.” Annalise whispered before pulling the trigger again. Annalise’s hand shook as she stared at the body, blind to Anti standing next to her, his eye green as he caught the image. “I did it. Oh, my God, I did it! I did it!” Annalise began laughing. “I did it! I did it! I did it!” Anti stepped back, knowing that Annalise was going to take a moment. “He’s dead! He’s fucking dead and I did it!” Annalise dropped the gun and clutched at her head as she laughed, pure joy rushing through her body. “Yes! Yes!  _ Yes!  _ **_Yes_ ** _! _ ” Annalise’s voice distorted a little, bouncing to the other side of the room. “ **_I Did It!_ ** ” Annalise let out a long and strained sound as she curled into herself, panting. She slowly caught her breath and straightened back up, looking at Anti. “Dad...what was that?” 

“It’s the rush.” Anti answered. “It happens when I kill, too. You’re fine.” 

“I am?” Annalise swallowed thickly. 

“Yes, princess. Now, absorb the body and I’ll take care of the rest.” 

“Okay...cool.” Annalise took a few more breaths before holding her hand out, pixels leaving her body and covering the one of the ground. Annalise gasped and shivered as the pixels went back into her, the surge of energy unexpected. 

She needed to talk to Tiana. She needed to talk to her. She needed to tell her  _ everything _ . 

“I’ll see you later, dad.” Annalise said before glitching away. 

Annalise sat on the top of the bleachers of the football stadium, the players on the field not noticing her and there wasn’t anyone else around. 

“Hey, Anna.” Tiana greeted sitting down next to Annalise. 

“Hey, Tea.” Annalise gave Tiana a small smile.

“You alright?” 

“Yep. I’m ready to tell you the truth.” Annalise blinked several times, her eyes becoming bright orange. “I’m not human." 


	18. The Real Her

 

“That’s a really cool trick, how did you do that? Did your dad make it?” Tiana asked, not believing Annalise’s statement at all and assuming it was a prank. 

“They’re my real eyes.” Annalise said, her serious tone scaring Tiana a little. 

“Okay, this joke isn’t funny.” Tiana said. 

“It’s not a joke. I’ve been lying to you, we’ve all been lying to you.” Annalise shook her head. “My uncles are not what they seem. All of their faces are faked.” 

“They all met in the army, PTSD ha-"

“They were never in the army. None of them were. None of them are human either. Chase is the closest one. Chase, Marvin and Henrik are the only real names you know.” 

“Annalise. Stop. This prank is going too far.” Tiana yelped and jumped back when bright, orange wings came out of Annalise’s back. Butterfly wings. 

“This is why everything I get is butterfly based.” Annalise weakly chuckled. 

“What...just...what?” Tiana stared with her eyes wide. 

“We’re not human.” Annalise stated, putting her wings away. “My father is named Dark and my dad is Anti. Dark is a demon and Anti is a virus...I’m a virus.” 

“Demon!?” Tiana moved further away from Annalise. “And virus!? What the hell do you mean that you’re a virus!?” 

“I..” Annalise sighed and held out her hand, several orange pixels coming out of her palm. “I was created by a malfunction in the universe. I took over the body of a fetus and they died. I technically don’t have birth parents.” 

“You told me that you were going to tell me the truth!” Tiana snapped. “What are you doing!?” 

“I am telling you the truth.” Annalise said. 

“That your father’s a demon!? A fucking demon!?” Tiana held a hand to her head in disbelief. “And you and your dad are virus’!? Like a fucking computer virus!?” 

“I mean, kind of?” Annalise spoke in a soft voice, hating that her best friend was yelling at her. 

“How can you be a virus!?”

“It’s complicated…”

“It’s bullshit! If your father’s a demon, that means he fucking evil! Next thing you’re going to tell me is that your family kills people!” Tiana waited for a response, body stiffening when she didn’t. “What?” 

“It’s dad’s job and...I’m joining him.” Annalise whispered. 

“No. No, you’re not! You’re not!”

“I already have. I just did.” The terror in Tiana’s eyes made Annalise want to vomit. “Tiana. I’m a monster. I’ve been a monster for a long time. I killed the woman who gave birth to me when I was three, I killed the rest of my kind too.” Annalise wanted to stop speaking, but word after word just kept forcing their way out of her mouth. “I shot a man in the face today and  _ loved  _ it. I absorbed his body into mine and it filled me with energy and joy. Brandon’s real name is Bing and Greg’s is Google and Jarred is Jackieboy and Howard is Host and-and...Tiana?” Annalise watched with tears in her eyes as Tiana got up. “Tiana, wait. Tiana. Tiana!” Annalise leaped to her feet when Tiana ran off. “Tiana! Tiana please!” Annalise wanted to go after her. She wanted to hug her, to tell her that she was lying, that it was just a sick joke. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t lie to herself anymore. “Tiana!” 

She is a monster.

_ x~x~x _

“We could start her on paperwork and can only join jobs with one uninstall.” Anti said to Dark in the office, sitting on the edge of the desk. 

“Paperwork, yes. Joining a job...maybe.” Dark leaned back in his chair as he thought. 

“She’s never going to learn if she doesn’t get out there.” Anti stated. 

“I know.” Dark sighed. 

“She also has the gun Wilford made for her. She can keep a distance from them.” Anti said. 

“She does know how to fire one.” Dark let out a hum. 

“Come on, Darky-baby. Our little girl is all grown-up and wants to join the family business.” Anti swung his feet as he spoke. 

“Fine.” Dark finally gave in. 

“I promise I’ll-Ann?” Anti stopped when he saw Annalise glitch into the room, tears streaming down her face. 

“Annalise?” Dark went to get up, but Annalise threw herself into his lap and sobbed into his chest. Dark immediately wrapped his arms around Annalise while Anti got up and rubbed Annalise’s back. 

“I fucked up. I fucked up so badly!” Annalise cried. “I fucked up!” 

“What happened?” Dark asked as Anti crouched down a little, taking one of Annalise’s hands and rubbing circles on the top of it with his thumb. 

“I’m an idiot. A damned idiot!” Annalise buried her face into Dark’s suit jacket, not wanting to be seen. Dark was reminded of Annalise doing that when she was a lot younger, hiding in his jacket to escape from the world when she was upset. 

_ ‘It warm and safe there’  _

Annalise’s voice could still be heard clearly in Dark’s mind as if just happened days ago instead of years. She would always go to him if she started to cry, curling up in his lap and tucking her head into the space between his jacket and shirt. He missed those days. When she would go to him. When she would hold his hand every chance that she got. When he was her ‘papa’.

“Annalise. What did you do?” Anti asked.

“I told Tiana everything... _ everything _ .” Anti and Dark both stiffened. “I showed her my eyes, my wings. I..I…” Annalise began sobbing again. “She-She ran! She h-hates me!” 

“I’ll talk with her. You can stay here with-”

“No...please...no…” Annalise croaked, cutting Anti off. “Leave her alone.” Dark and Anti shared a look. 

“We’ll talk about this later.” Dark said. “We’ll discuss this and Glitchers after Annalise feels better.” 

“Glitchers?” Annalise raised her head. 

“Maybe some good news might make you feel a little better.” Anti looked at Dark, waiting for a protest, getting nothing. “Dark agreed to letting you help with paperwork and joining in jobs that’s one uninstall.” 

“Really?” Anti caught the disappointment in Annalise’s voice.

“It’s a start.” Dark said. 

“Thank you.” Annalise slowly got back up and it took everything in Dark to not put her back. “I’m going to my room.” She gave Anti a hug before walking out of the room.

“We should let her go.” Dark said in a hoarse voice. 

Annalise closed the door behind her, waiting a moment before pulling out Anti’s phone. She reminded herself to thank Marvin for her pickpocketing abilities. After some typing and pixel manipulation, she connected her phone to Anti’s. She would now get half of the blocked calls from Anti’s phone. Annalise tossed Anti’s phone on to the couch and went into her room.  

She was done being a nice girl. She was done behaving. She was done hiding who she truly was. Everyone was scared of the real her. Everyone ran away from the real her. Her best friend ran away from the real her. 

Time to let the real her shine. 


	19. Bully

Uninstall after uninstall.

Kill after kill.

More and more lives were ended by Annalise’s hands. By the gun, she stole from Dark’s office almost nightly for two weeks.

She’s been taught too well by the Ipliers and Septiceyes. 

“Did you drink coffee this mornin’ or somethin’?” Keith, a casual friend of Annalise, asked at the beginning of the school day at Annalise’s locker.

“Why you ask?” Annalise asked, looking at Keith. He was small for his age, he was actually a year older than Annalise, but no one would know unless they asked. Keith always wore his sandy blonde hair in a little mohawk and had dozens of flannel shirts he would wear unbuttoned with a plain t-shirt and jeans. 

“You’re like, literally buzzin’.” Keith said. Annalise looked at her hand and saw that it was shaking. She had done three uninstalls very early this morning, the energy must not have worn off yet. 

“Red Bull.” Annalise lied with a laugh. 

“Are you and Sweet-Tea still fighting’?” Keith asked in a softer voice. Annalise just stared into her locker. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Keith let out a long sigh. “Honey, you need to talk with Tiana.”

“How do I talk with someone who won’t even look at me?” Annalise asked, finally getting her lock undone. She swung open the door and huffed. 

“You don’t have to look at someone to talk with ‘em.” Keith said, watching as Annalise took books out of her bag and put in different ones. 

“It’s more than that, Keith.” Annalise sighed. 

“You’ve been friends your whole life. How could one little argument ruin that?” Keith crossed his arms as he asked. 

“It’s more than that.” Annalise repeated. 

“As a gay southerner, I know all about tussles between friends and a simple talk always fixes things.” Keith stated. Annalise found herself looking Keith in the eyes, hazel, a very light hazel, they could be mistaken for orange in certain lighting. No one said anything about it. Everyone thought they were cool. No one thought he was a monster. But...he never killed anyone, has he?

“I-” Annalise stopped when her phone began to buzz. “I’ll talk with you later, I have to take this.” 

“Don’t forget what I said.” Keith stated before walking off, leaving Annalise alone. 

“What part of not calling me during these hours do you not fucking understand?” Annalise said harshly into the phone when she answered it, her voice a hiss. “Listen to me, you thick-headed cock. You are not to call me at this time or at the times you were given. The kind of business that I partake in is to not be discussed where I am during those hours. Do I make myself clear?” The person on the phone let out a weak ‘yes, ma’am’. “Good. Goodbye.” Annalise hung up her phone, grabbed her backpack and slammed her locker shut and walked away, not seeing her classmate Kara standing nearby, having heard the entire phone conversation. 

_ x~x~x _

“Tiana, please answer your phone. I need to talk with you.” Annalise said as she walked to her locker, the other students moving around her so they could get out of the school since the day was finally done. “Please, I…” Annalise’s jaw dropped and she hung up her phone when she saw a note taped to her locker. 

‘ _ Slut _ ’

Annalise went up to the paper, not believing what she was seeing. Her? A slut? What could she have done to make others believe that? She wasn’t. She knew she wasn’t. There was an important event that had to take place in order for her to even be classified as one. 

“Aybelline?” Keith’s silly nickname couldn’t phase through Annalise’s thoughts.  “What in the name of hell is that?” Keith gasped when he saw the note.

“Who...who the hell did this!?” Annalise screamed, the crowd of students freezing. “Who the hell put this note on my locker!?” 

“Maybe you shouldn’t-”

“Who’s the dumbass who did this!?” Annalise cut off Keith and waved the paper. 

“You know it’s true.” A girl said from the crowd. 

“Come out and say that to my face!” Annalise crumpled up the note and threw it to the ground. 

“Or what? You’ll spread your legs since that’s all you know what to do?” Another student said with a laugh. Annalise’s eye twitched, her blood boiling. The students were all clueless to the glitching in her iris’ and the orange pixels forming on her back. 

“Just admit you’re fucked-up.” A third student called.

“Of course she’s fucked-up. She has two dads.” A student named Trevor scoffed. Everyone went silent as Annalise stiffened and dropped her bag. They watched as her hands clenched and she harshly turned towards Trevor. Annalise walked over to the boy, eyes hard with a glare. “What are you going to do, hit me?” Trevor asked in a mocking tone.

“My father taught me that violence is only for those that are worth it and your worth is literally nothing.” Trevor opened his mouth to respond, but Annalise kept going. “You insult others based on your own biased views on how the world should work while you do not even fit the mold you expect other men to fill. Your strength is that of an infant, barely able to keep your own head up, so you stare at your feet while you walk because you know your existence is nothing more than a shameful accident. Your intelligence is comparable to a squirrel wanting to get his nut, a nut that is being shared with his best friend since Pamela is currently making out with Liam on the second-floor bathroom.” Annalise pointed up. “I suggest you never,  _ ever  _ insult my family  _ ever _ again or my tolerance for my father’s teaching will become null.” Annalise spun on her heel and began walking away, picking her bag up and was about to swing it onto her shoulder when Kara spoke. 

“You pissed off the prostitute, Trevor.” She teased. 

“Prostitute?” Keith let out a laugh. “Annalise? A prostitute? Y’all are really a bunch of dumb fucks ain’t ya?” There was a strong tension in the air as Annalise began to laugh as well, a lot louder and stronger than Keith’s. 

“I could fucking  _ buy  _ you.” Annalise said through gritted teeth, facing Kara. “I could buy everyone in the fucking school three times and not even blink.” 

“Y-You get that money from laying on your back.” Kara tried to sound confident, but Annalise towering over her made her voice weak. 

“You’ll be laying on your back six-feet under if you don’t shut your fucking mouth.” 

“Having two dads did fuck you up!” 

“Is everything alright here?” A teacher asked. Annalise blinked a few times, tears suddenly forming in her eyes. She put her hands over her face and began to sob. “What’s happening?” 

“Annalise as threatening me!” Kara exclaimed. 

“She looks so threatening through her tears.” The teacher scoffed and saw the crumpled up note. “What’s this?” The paper was smoothed out and he read the word. “Who wrote this?” 

“Mr. Yolen, she-”

“Who wrote this?” Mr. Yolen asked again, voice stern.

“I did.” Kara admitted softly. 

“Powell, Landon, the principal’s office. Now.” Mr. Yolen stated. 

“Yes, sir.” Kara muttered while Annalise sniffed and grabbed her bag, both her and Kara went to the office. 

They sat in silence in the room, waiting for their parents to appear to discuss what had happened. 

“What happened?” Dark said with a harsh growl when he and Anti entered the office, seeing the tears on Annalise’s face as she sat in one of the chairs in front of the principal's desk. Kara sat on the other one, her parents had already arrived. 

“You’re freak of a daughter threatened me!” Kara yelled. 

“I suggest watching what you call my daughter.” Dark said with a harsh glare while Anti crouched beside Annalise and had her whisper in his ear.

“Don’t threaten my daughter!” Kara’s father snapped. 

“I am not threatening. I am simply making a suggestion. Telling her to make a wise decision since her parents lack the ability to teach her how to.” 

“Enough.” The principal huffed, she adjusted her glasses. “We take bullying and threats very seriously in this school and…” The principal cleared her throat loudly when she saw that Anti was whispering to Dark. “I would appreciate if you took this seriously. Your daughter is being accused of giving a death threat.” 

“I want her expelled.” Kara’s mother stated. 

“Are you aware of the fact that your child accused of mine of being a prostitute?” Anti stated back. 

“And that she is also discriminating against my child for the fact she was raised by two fathers. That is a lawsuit in the waiting.” Dark shifted his glare from Kara’s mother to the principal. “If you even have the thought of punishing my child for being the obvious victim, I hope your school has some damn great lawyers.” 

“You’re all dismissed.” The principal turned around and waved her hand. 

“You are not-”

“I said dismissed!” Kara’s father clenched his jaw after being interrupted. 

“You’re dismissed.” Anti giggled and took Annalise’s bag, laughing some more as he and Dark walked out. Annalise stepped out as well, she sniffed once and dried her face, a large grin on her face as she saw Kara walking towards her, her parents still in the office. Kara yelped when Annalise grabbed her shirt and threw her against the wall, Dark and Anti too busy talking to each other to notice. 

“I am no prostitute. I’m a killer. I get paid millions of dollars to kill and destroy people. And I do it without a blink of the eye. I  _ love  _ doing it. Every kill is a thrill to me. If you ever talk bad about me or my friends, you’ll be next on my list. Free. Of. Charge.” Annalise lightly slapped Kara’s face before walking away. 

“We’re not going to homeschool her.” Dark was saying when Annalise reached them. 

“What?” Annalise asked. 

“Your dad is suggesting to homeschool you so you don’t have to deal with bullies.” Dark explained. 

“Oh, trust me.” Annalise chuckled. “We’re not going to have to worry about that anymore.” She glanced over her shoulder as she walked out with her dads, smiling as she watched Kara fall to her knees, coughing and gagging on some orange pixels.

Her point was made. 


	20. Too Much

 

Annalise was sprinting on the treadmill in her home’s gym, music blasting into her ears through her headphones and heart beating faster than it should be able to. She has to get this energy out. She has to get rid of it before her fathers noticed. Annalise panted as she kept running, her body still buzzing, buzzing to the point of glitching slightly. The memory of the two kills running over and over in her mind. She got to have fun with those. She had to make it slow and painful and record it. Annalise had enjoyed every single second of it and she wanted more now. She saw something out of the corner of her eye and she stopped the treadmill, removing the headphones as well. 

“Anna-bell, are you okay?” Bing asked. 

“Hey, Bing!” Annalise said happily, hugging the search engine. “Bing?” She lowered her arms when Bing didn’t hug her back. 

“Where have you been these past two weeks?” Bing watched Annalise walk off of the treadmill, going over to a small bench that had a towel and bottle of water resting on it. 

“Nowhere.” Annalise answered, taking the towel and wiping the sweat off of her face and neck. 

“You’ve been avoiding everyone, you’ve been avoiding me.” Bing stayed where he was and rubbed his arm. “Did I mess up? Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if-” 

“No, no, Bing. It’s not you, I swear.” Annalise dropped her towel and picked up the water bottle, going back over to Bing. 

“Then what is it? One moment you’re all for me, wanting to hang out with me and be with me and the next you don’t even look at me.” Annalise found herself stuck. She hadn’t called or even texted Bing in the past two weeks. They went on a date and she hasn’t thought about it or anything related to that at all. She forgot about him. How could she have forgotten about him? She’s had a crush on him for six years. Annalise dropped her bottle and grabbed the front of Bing’s shirt, pulling him in for a kiss. She wasn’t expecting Bing to put his hands on her shoulders and pull her away almost immediately. 

“Kissing me doesn’t explain anything.” Bing said.

“It’s complicated, okay? I can’t explain it because it won’t make any sense to you.” Annalise dropped her head, putting it on Bing’s chest. 

She’s a monster.

She’s a freak.

She doesn’t deserve to have anyone in her life.

They all run.

They all leave.

_ They do not love her. _

“You’re vibrating.” Bing commented. “Why are you vibrating?” 

“It’s nothing. Everything’s fine. Everything's fine. Everything’s fine.” Annalise twitched as she repeated the same two words over and over and over again. 

“Anna-bell. Anna-bell! Annalise!” Bing shook Annalise a little, eyes widening when she raised her head, eyes a bright orange and tears flowing from them. 

“I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.” Annalise gasped. 

“I’m getting your dads.” Bing went to take off but Annalise grabbed his arm. 

“No! Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!” Annalise begged. 

“You need help!” Bing yanked his arm away. 

“No!” Annalise screamed, a surge of energy blasting from her body and sending Bing flying into the wall. “Bing? Bing? Bing?” Bing didn’t respond, he had been knocked out. “No! No! No!” Annalise’s wings popped out of her back and she cried out. 

“Annalise!” Dark and Anti both barged into the room. 

“It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!” Annalise started to claw at her face and neck. “Make it stop!  _ Make it stop!  _ **_Make it stop!_ ** _ ”  _ Her body began glitching erratically and she curled up, pixels shedding from her and falling to the ground. 

“Shit!” Anti ran over to Annalise and wrapped his arms around her.

“What’s happening!?” Dark asked, a loud static filling the air. Anti wasn’t able to answer and he hugged Annalise tighter. Anti let out a scream before fumbling back, Annalise collapsed to the ground, wings shattering and the pixels gone. Dark went over to Annalise and watched as Anti absorbed the orange pixels, eyes glowing brightly and a strong green hue surrounded his body. Anti yelled again before throwing an arm out, a cloud of green and orange pixels went into one of the elliptical and there was a loud crack before the machine combusted.

“Fuck.” Anti groaned before falling to his knees. “That was a lot.” 

“Anti? Are you okay?”

“Yeah...just really fucking tired.” Anti shook his head and sniffed. “Annalise is gonna be out for a bit too. You should call Google and have him check on Bing. I’m gonna pass-” Anti didn’t get to finish before falling over and losing consciousness as well. 

Dark sat there for a second. His husband, his daughter and a search engine were all passed out in his home gym and his elliptical was one fire. Weren’t Saturdays supposed to be relaxing? 

_ x~x~x _

“She fucked with my phone.” Anti said from the bed, awake, but body not fully working yet. “She hacked it so she’d be getting most of the Glitchers calls. That’s why work has been sparse lately.” Anti threw his and Annalise’s phone to the other end of the bed. 

“Are you two going to be okay?” Dark asked while massaging Anti’s legs, trying to help get them going again. 

“She was too energized, she had too much in her without finding a way to properly release all of the extra energy between jobs.” Anti stated. 

“How do you-”

“Your dick.” Anti chuckled at Dark’s face. “I also do some running and releasing pixels takes care of most of it, but you fucking me senseless does a lot to help as well.” 

“Explains why you’re always worked up after a job.” Dark said, continuing his rubbing.

“I feel kinda bad for Bing.” Anti said, rolling his eyes a little at Dark’s huff. “He didn’t ask for Annalise to like him nor did he ask to like her.” Dark’s grip tightened a little. “Don’t act so naive, Darky, you know it’s true. He usually acts like an idiot around everyone but with her, he’s more serious. He’s better with her and I think she’d be better with him.” 

“She doesn’t need anyone.” Dark muttered. 

“I used to believe that I didn’t need anyone.” Anti leaned forward and placed his hand on Dark’s, making him stop. “You used to believe that you didn’t need anyone.” Dark didn’t speak. “Love happens, dear. Love will always happen and we have no control over who falls for it or who we fall for. If someone would have told me twenty years ago that I would be married to you and have a teenage daughter that we raised, I would have slit their throat and yet, here we are.” 

“I hate it when you’re the voice of reason.” Dark sighed. 

“When Ann gets up, we need to get some food in her and then talk about what we’re going to do next.” Anti said. 

“She’s grounded.”

“Oh, absolutely.” 


	21. An Idiot

 

“Bing...Bing?” Annalise groaned as she woke up, her last memory of Bing being knocked-out was the only thing on her mind. “Bi-” Annalise tried to get out of bed but ended up falling to the ground. “Ow.” 

“She’s awake.” Dark called from her bedroom door before entering. “Annalise, are you okay?” Dark knelt next to his daughter, bushing her messy hair out of her eyes. “I think you could use a haircut.” He lightly chuckled. 

“I can barely move.” Annalise whined. 

“Your dad had to take all of your energy. You were overcharged. You could have died, Annalise.” The serious tone in Dark’s voice told Annalise that he knew everything. 

“I’m a monster.” Annalise said, letting her face rest on the carpeted floor. 

“You need to stop saying that.” Dark started rubbing Annalise’s back. It would always soothe her when she was upset. He remembered the times Annalise had a nightmare when she was younger and she’d crawl into their bed and she’d take his hand and place it on her back, sometimes she didn’t even need him to move his hand, just having it there was enough to make her feel safe. 

“We are, aren’t we? We’re monsters. You destroy their lives and me and dad end them.” Annalise said, staring at nothing. 

“Monsters are large, scaly, ugly things that hide under your bed or in your closet and I came out of the closet a long time ago when I started dating your dad.” Dark smiled a little when Annalise let out a soft laugh at his joke. 

“But I hurt Bing.” Annalise said when her laughter died out. “How could I not be a monster. I’ve had a crush on him for six years. I’ve wanted him to notice me for six years and then I hurt him? What kind of a heartless thing do you have to be to hurt the one you care for?” 

“It was an accident.” Annalise didn’t know how much those words burned at Dark as he spoke them. “You didn’t want to hurt him, you would never choose to hurt him.” 

“Where is he?” 

“On the couch. Google is taking care of him. His system just got a little overheated due to the energy burst you had.” Dark answered. 

“Is he okay?” 

“Google says that he just needs some time to cool off and reboot.” Dark adjusted himself so he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, still rubbing Annalise’s back. 

“I was an idiot.” Annalise waited for Dark to say something. “You’re supposed to disagree with me.” 

“I only tell you the truth, dear.” Dark chuckled when Annalise let out a loud whine and rolled over, grabbing his arm. 

“You’re so mean!” Annalise pouted, shaking the arm weakly. She tossed the arm aside and sighed. “I’m sorry.” 

“You’re still grounded.”

“Damn it!” 

After a few hours, Annalise was able to get up and walk around on her own. Anti was cooking dinner while Google made sure Bing’s reboot went by smoothly. Dark had made some calls, confirming that the Easter party would be at the Iplier manor tomorrow and was now standing with Anti and drinking some coffee.

“I feel like a marshmallow you just threw into the fire because you’re too impatient to wait for it to cook.” Bing chuckled softly and rubbed his head. 

“Bing!” Google moved back as Annalise ran over to Bing and tackled him into a hug, making the search engine fall over and lay on the couch. 

“She gets that from you.” Dark muttered into his mug. 

“Darky!” Anti laughed and half-jumped on his husband. Dark almost spilling his coffee and sighed as he patted Anti’s back, letting him cling to his body. 

“I’m so sorry, Bing! I didn’t mean to do that to you!” Annalise hugged Bing tightly as she apologized. 

“Everything should be fine. Call if he starts acting strange...stranger than usual.” Google added the last part with a slight chuckle. “Or just send him back when you get annoyed with him.” 

“With Dark, I give it five minutes.” Anti released Dark and went over to Google, placing a hand on his shoulder and glitching with him. 

“Google filled my code in on what happened. I know it was an accident, Anna-bell.” Bing said, hugging Annalise back. 

“I was an idiot.” No response from Bing. “Not you too!” 

“I am literally programmed not to lie!” Bing protested, both of them hearing the snort Dark made. 

“Father!” Annalise plopped herself down on top of Bing. 

“What I miss?” Anti asked when he glitched back in. 

“Father and Bing are mean!” Annalise whined. 

“I asked what I miss, not what I already knew.” Anti chuckled. 

“I’m not mean! I’m just honest!” Bing held onto Annalise and rocked a little. “Anna-bell!” Annalise started laughing as she was moved. “Anna-bell, forgive me!” Bing was being over-dramatic. “My sweet Anna-bell! Whatever shall I do!?” 

“They’re adorable.” Anti sang, seeing that Dark was glaring at the scene. 

“My Anna-” Bing rocked too hard and ended up making him and Annalise roll off of the couch. The two laid on the ground and they both laughed. 

“Doesn’t that just remind you of something?” Anti asked, leaning his head against Dark’s shoulder. 

“Do not compare them to us.” Dark huffed. 

“You just don’t wanna admit that you’re cutie that’s a hopeless romantic with a soft heart.” Anti pinched one of Dark’s cheeks. 

“I am a master manipulator. I ruin the lives of thousands without batting an eye. I am a literal demon. I am not cute.” 

“You cried at our wedding.”    
“Must you always bring that up?” 

“Cutie.” Anti sang before giving Dark and quick peck on the lips. 

“They’re climbing on the couch.” Dark muttered when he saw that Annalise was trying to get back on the couch without completely standing and Bing was joining her. 

“With how we tend to be, a lot worse has happened on that couch.” Anti joked. 

“Wait, what does that mean?” Annalise asked, catching the end of Dark’s and Anti’s conversation. “Wait...oh my, God!” Annalise threw herself away from the couch. 

“I don’t get it.” Bing said, having not heard what Annalise did. 

“You’ve had sex on the couch! Why does everyone have sex on the couch!?” Annalise yelled, wiping at her body with her hands. 

“Chase and Marvin didn’t have sex, they just made-out.” Anti said.

“They did what?” Dark asked. “You just told me they got together.” 

“I mean, they did. They just did it on the couch.” Anti shrugged. 

“My face has been on those cushions!” Annalise started rubbing her face. 

“And so has my bare ass.” Anti started laughing when Annalise began rubbing harder.  “And so has your father’s.” 

“I need to take a shower!” Annalise cried and fell to the ground. “But no amount of soap can wash away the agony that is in my soul!” 

“I’m sure they clean up when they’re finished.” Bing said, joining Annalise on the ground. 

“I-is something burning?” Dark asked, sniffing the air. 

“My quiche!” Anti shouted. 


	22. Easter Confusion

 

“Dad! Did you really put an egg in my purse!” Annalise called out when she went to get her lipstick from her bag. A bright orange, plastic egg was tucked in with her belongings. 

“Why do you assume that I did it?” Anti said, putting a hand to his chest and pretending to be offended. “It could have been the Easter bunny.” 

“Dad, the Easter bunny isn’t real.” Annalise groaned. “I just wanted to fix my lipstick.” 

“I actually didn’t do it.” Anti said. 

“Then who…” Annalise opened the egg and found a Hershey’s kiss in it.

“I couldn't help myself.” Bing admitted with a chuckle. 

“Bingy-”

“We’re waiting for Mark and Jack, correct?” Dark asked, sitting himself between Annalise and Bing before they could kiss.  

“Yes, yes. Once they’re here the party can officially begin.” Dr. Iplier said, adjusting the table that was filled with snacks. 

“I’m so excited for this party to begin.” Annalise pouted, crossing her arms and legs. 

“Bing, you got cockblocked.” Chase chuckled, wrapping an arm around Marvin. 

“I will block your cock too if you misbehave.” Dr. Schneepestein warned. “Why are you laughing?” 

“Oh, Sheep, I love you man.” Annalise said between laughs. 

“I am surrounded by immature children.” Dark sighed. “And speaking of children.” He added when there was a knock on the door. 

“I got it!” Wilford sang, skipping over to the door. “There’s the happy daddy!” 

“Please don’t call me that.” Jack chuckled, the four-year-old in his arms just clapped and giggled. 

“I think it’s cute.” Signe said as she walked into the Iplier manor with Jack. 

“There’s the old fuck!” Anti cheered when he saw Jack. 

“Nevermind. Call me happy daddy.” Jack rolled his eyes with a smile. 

“Mark and Amy are coming, they’re having issues with the car seat.” Signe said. 

“You mean Mark’s having issues with the car seat.” Dark corrected going over to Jack. “Hello, Aideen.” 

“Hi!” Aideen greeted back, waving her hand. 

“She certainly has your projection.” Bim said from the other side of the room. 

“It runs in the McLoughlin blood.” Jack chuckled, gesturing as an offer to allow Dark to hold his daughter. Dark nodded a thanks before taking the child. 

“Dar-Dar!” Aideen giggled, patting Dark’s shoulder. 

“That’s what he used to look like holding you.” Wilford said to Annalise. 

“What?” Annalise asked. 

“The little twinkle in his eye, he’d get that whenever he held you at that age. Aideen actually looks a lot like you when you were younger.” Wilford chuckled and patted Annalise’s back. “Don’t worry, he wouldn’t trade you for the world.” He added when he saw the hurt in Annalise’s eyes. 

“Uncle Marv! I wanna see a trick!” A ten-year-old boy yelled as he ran into the house. 

“Jason, come back!” Mark’s voice called from outside of the house. 

“He gets it from you.” Amy giggled, the two showing up in the doorway. 

“You can’t blame everything that he does on me.” Mark chuckled, the infant in his arms began chewing on her hand. “Kiana, no.” He said in a silly tone, moving her hand out of her mouth as he and Amy walked in.  

“Time to party!” Jackieboy yelled, slapping the radio and blasting some music. He started dancing around, not noticing that Kiana had begun to cry. He stopped when the music did by Google’s hand. 

“You’ve upset that baby.” Google stated. 

“Whoops.” Jackieboy curled up in embarrassment. 

“It’s okay, honey. It’s okay.” Mark started bouncing Kiana, but she continued to cry. “Amy, help.” 

“Give me my little cookie-ball.” Amy took Kiana and she immediately stopped crying. 

“Rude.” Mark huffed. 

“I see that you stop trying to dye out your gray hairs.” Dark commented to Mark. 

“I don’t have any-ow.” Mark flinched when Dark plucked out a hair. 

“You might need to visit the salon again.” Dark teased before dropping the hair. 

“Jack’s just letting his salt shine through.” Anti ruffled Jack’s hair. 

“What can I say, I make a great silver fox.” Jack chuckled, fixing his hair. 

“How’s being forty?” Anti asked.

“How’s being an ass?” Jack asked back. 

“Alright you two, break it up.” Signe giggled, stepped between the two men. “Don’t make me take my shoe off.” 

“That was so cool!” Jason yelled when Marvin showed that he was holding the card he picked. “You’re the coolest uncle ever!” 

“He is the coolest, isn’t he?” Chase said with a chuckle, pecking Marvin’s cheek. Marvin’s face was bright red behind his mask. 

“Seeing two younger versions of myself together is still a sight to see.” Jack said. 

“You jealous?” Anti teased, changing himself to match what Jack looked like thirteen years ago. 

“Not all of us are supernatural creatures that maintain the same age and shape.” Mark huffed.

“Have you started drafting your wills yet?” Bim asked, going between Mark and Jack and wrapping his arms around their shoulders.

“We’re not that old.” Mark scoffed as he and Jack slapped the show host’s arms away. 

“Dude, you alright?” Jack asked when he saw Anti standing there with his eyes wide. 

“Yeah.” Anti shook his head and went back his usual ‘human’ look. “Just zoned out.” 

“Dad! We forgot the ham!” Annalise suddenly shouted and ran into the kitchen. 

“First my quiche. Now the ham!?” Anti shouted as well and took off. 

“He likes cooking.” Dark answered the question that was on the other’s faces. “I’m not telling him no.” 

“Someone’s whipped.” Mark sang. 

“I’ll show you whipped.” Dark growled his threat. 

“Now, now, Darky. It’s Eater we gotta behave.” Wilford said. 

“Easter!” Aideen cheered. “Easter bunny!” 

“Yes.The Easter bunny came and he left you lots of eggs to find.” Dark said to the little girl, letting her take his finger and shake it. 

“How come he’s only nice to my daughter?” Jack asked. 

“The ham is safe!” Annalise announced when she came back into the living room. 

“My hero.” Bing chuckled, putting his arm on Annalise’s waist. 

“Would you two behave?” Dark said, the annoyance clear on his face. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, let me just-” Annalise grabbed Bing’s face and kissed him on the lips. 

“Annalise!” Dark gasped while the others laughed. Jack used the moment to take his daughter back, Aideen would not be the biggest fan of an angry demon holding her.  

“She’s definitely got Anti’s attitude.” Jack chuckled. 

“He’s my boyfriend, father.” Annalise huffed.

“Boyfriend?” Bing stiffened, his cheeks flushing a little. 

“One date does not make him your boyfriend.” Dark stated. 

“And one fuck does?” 

“We are not doing this again!” Anti snapped as he stormed back into the living room. “You are coming with me, mister.” Anti looped his arm through Dark’s and lead him to his old room. 

“What is Uncle Anti doing, dad?” Jason asked. 

“I honestly don’t want to know.” Mark answered.

“At least it’s not the couch.” Annalise muttered, Bing too stunned to laugh. 

“So, I heard that someone’s grounded. Again.” Wilford teased Annalise. “What did you do?” 

“Nothing.” Annalise quickly responded. 

“Nothing? Nothing my ass. Last time you got grounded was ‘cause you did a Glitchers job on your own.” 

“She worked on a computer on her own?” Amy asked. 

“Why would she get grounded for that?” Signe asked as well. 

“It’s complicated, dear.” Mark said. 

“Long story that you don’t need to know.” Jack added.

“We already know almost everything, why can’t we know this?” Amy lightly slapped at Mark’s arm. 

“It’s better that you don’t.” Mark said. 

“Come on, Jack.” Signe whined. 

“Sorry, honey.” Jack handed Signe Aideen and went over to the food table. 

“Hey, Host. You alright there?” Bim asked Host when he noticed that the ego was extremely stiff.

“Someone is coming. Someone unknown to all but one is coming.” Host stated. 

“Dark should be a lot calmer now.” Anti chuckled, licking his lips as he stepped out of the bedroom. 

“Was the lip-licking necessary?” Jack asked through a mouthful of cheese. 

“Would you rather I leave it there?” Anti asked with a wink. 

“Leave what?” Jason asked. 

“Nothing!” Mark slapped his hands over Jason’s ears. “Would you quit making innuendos and suggestive stuff around my son?” 

“That’s no fun.” Anti pouted, Dark now stepping out of the bedroom. His face was a little flushed and he cleared his throat before speaking. 

“Apologies for the interruption.” Dark said. 

“It wasn’t an interruption, you just got your dick sucked.” Wilford laughed and clapped Dark on the back. 

“Dick!” Aideen squealed. 

“You’ve corrupted my child!” Jack groaned. 

“Payback!” Anti laughed. 

“Now we’re going to have to-” Signe’s comment was cut short by the front door getting knocked on. 

“Everyone’s here.” Marvin said. 

“I’ll get it.” Dark said, waiting until Mark turned Jason around before breaking out of his human form. “Who-” Dark stopped his growl when he saw a man about Annalise’s age standing at the door, covered in blood. 

“Hi.” The man greeted before passing out. 

“Mac?” 


	23. Time For Quiche!

 

“And here, we see the messy stranger on the ground and-” 

“RJ, move!” Annalise pushed past Reporter Jim and knelt next to Mac. 

“Who’s Mac?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know.” Anti said and joined Annalise. 

“Dad! Is he bleeding!?” Jason yelled and ran to Mark, hugging his leg. “Did someone hurt him!?” 

“Everything’s fine, buddy.” Mark bent down and hugged his son. 

“Who is he?” Dark asked, lifting Mac off of the ground. 

“He’s the one who found Elliot.” Annalise answered as Dark moved the young man to the couch. 

“I thought you said you found Elliot.” Anti said. 

“I knew you two had something to do with him coming back.” Dark huffed, stepping aside to allow Dr. Iplier and Dr. Schneepelstein to look over Mac. 

“I just wanted to get Elliot home and move on.” Annalise said. “He knows about Glitchers, so I assumed he was related to the person who hired us and I went with it.” 

“You seriously didn’t question why he knew where someone who’s been missing for a month was?” Anti scolded. 

“Again, I just wanted to move on.” Annalise protested. 

“I’m adding a week to your punishment.” Anti said. 

“But, dad!” 

“Don’t make me make it two!” Annalise bit her lip and lowered her head. She walked away from her dad and went over to Bing, putting her head on his chest and letting him wrap his arms around her. The room going silent for a moment as everyone waited. 

“The blood’s not his, but he has a large lump on his head. Hence him passing out on our porch.” Dr. Iplier said, breaking the silence. 

“He must’ve gotten into a fight or something.” Dr. Schneepelstein added. “And he must’ve won.” 

“We’ll have to wait until he wakes up and then we can talk to him.” Dr. Iplier said. 

“Let’s go egg-hunting!” Mark scooped Jason up. “The Easter Bunny left a lot of eggs for you guys to find.” 

“Bunny!” Aideen giggled as Jack, Amy and Signe followed Mark outside. 

“You guys go on ahead, I’ll set up a monitor on him and we’ll join ya.” Anti said. 

“Annalise, stay.” Dark said when Annalise tried to leave the house with Bing. 

“Damn it.” Annalise groaned quietly and went over to her dads. 

“Tell us everything, now.” Dark said when the others were gone. 

“Well, it all started when I was tied to your door at thr-”

“You know what I am talking about.” Dark’s harsh tone made Annalise curl up a little. 

“Start from when you hung up on me after you skipped school.” Anti said.

“You did what!?” Dark snapped.

“We’ll talk about that later.” Anti waved a hand towards Dark. “What happened?”

“I went to the Phillips house.” Annalise started, seeing Anti nod a little since he knew that part and Dark was not happy at all. “I had hung up because I heard a noise.”

“A noise?” Anti asked.

“Yeah, it was like a weird high-pitched beep or something.”

“Weird...keep going.” 

“And when I got there I started looking around, doing all the things Uncle Wil taught me and then I heard the noise again and I followed it.” Annalise looked over at Mac. “I turned and boom, Mac was there with Elliot.” 

“He just, appeared?” Dark asked.

“I probably didn’t see him, I was trying to find what was making the noise. He said that he found Elliot wondering around and he was probably just getting him back to his house. I took Elliot and you know the rest, dad.” Annalise rubbed her arm. 

“Wrong place at the wrong time.” Anti groaned. “Go out with the others.” 

“Yes, dad.” Annalise said softly before leaving. 

“We can get rid of him, easily.” Dark said, looking down at Mac. 

“Annalise would get upset.” Anti sighed, summoning pixels around him. 

“She’ll get over it.” Dark huffed. 

“While I would love to do an uninstall, I don’t think the other Ipliers would appreciate a murder on their couch.”

“We’ll clean it up.” 

“This is why I love you.” 

“I love you, too.” Dark wrapped an arm around Anti’s waist and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

“Are you still tense, Darky-baby.” Anti asked with a smirk. 

“Terribly so.” Dark chuckled, catching what Anti was hinting at. “But shouldn’t we go out with the others?” 

“They can wait. I want to relive our youth a little more.” 

“We still have a lot of life in us, I’d like to think we are still in our youth.” 

“Then prove it to me, big boy.” Anti winked before grabbing Dark’s tie and leading him back to his old room. 

Annalise sat on a lawn chair, resting his cheek on a fist as she watched the others play around in the yard, giving clues to the children as they tried to find the Easter eggs they had hidden. 

This was so boring. 

“How ya doing Annie?” Wilford asked, plopping himself down on the grass next to Annalise. 

“I’ve been grounded for another week, my best friend hates me and a stranger passed out on the porch. I’m doing great.” Annalise muttered. 

“Your best friend doesn’t hate you.” Wilford said. 

“I haven’t seen her in weeks and we a class together, but she moved seats so she wouldn’t be near me.” Annalise’s voice cracked a little and she cleared her throat. 

“Oh. Well, I’m sure whatever argument you two had will blow over eventually.” Wilford said with a smile.

“Uncle Wil...I told her the truth.” Wilford tilted his head a little. “I told her everything. Everything. She knows that we’re not human. She knows that I kill people. She knows everything.” 

“Shit…” Wilford scratched his head. “Okay, that might take a lot of time.” 

“She’s been hanging out with Kara.” Annalise said.

“Why does that name sound familiar?”   
“She’s the bitch that thought I was a prostitute.” 

“I thought Tiana was smarter than that.” Wilford huffed. 

“I thought she was my friend.” Annalise lowered her hand and slumped over. 

“Aw, Annie.” Wilford stood up and gave Annalise a hug before shouting. “Bingy-boy! Come over here and comfort your girlfriend!” 

“Coming!” Bing sang back as he put Aideen back down on the ground, the little girl giggling and saying ‘Bingley!’ as he walked away. 

“Bingley?” Annalise chuckled. 

“You’ve had some nicknames for us over the years.” Wilford said. 

“And you’ve kept most of them.” Bing added. 

“Uncle Kitty and Uncle Sheep are great nicknames for them.” Annalise protested. 

“Yes, yes they are.” Bing sat down in Annalise’s lap, making her squeal. “So, what’s the problem?”

“Your ass!” Annalise laughed. “Get off of me!” 

“I’m trying to comfort you.” 

“You’re sitting on me!”

“Everyone does comfort differently.” 

“I got snacks!” Anti shouted as he and Dark left the house, holding the food trays. 

“Are you really wearing that!?” Mark yelled.

“I haven’t seen those shorts in years!” Jack laughed. 

“I miss the crop-top.” Signe said in a teasing tone. 

“Dad! Why!?” Annalise cried, seeing that Anti was wearing the Dream Daddy crop-top and flamingo shorts. 

“It’s called fashion!” Anti did a spin. 

“It was the only extra clothes he brought.” Dark stated, wearing a black shirt and a pair of jeans. 

“Extra clothes?” Jason tilted his head in confusion. 

“You two did not!?” Annalise hid her face in Bing’s back. 

“What did they do?” Jason asked. 

“You couldn’t wait till you got home?” Bim scoffed. 

“I don’t get it.” Jason was looking around. 

“At least tell me you went to Dark’s room.” Marvin said. “I don’t want to go back to get my things and see...that.” 

“What happened!?” Jason shouted. 

“Time for quiche!” Mark ran over to the trays, avoiding his son’s question.  


	24. Purple Cubes

“He’s getting up!” Annalise yelled, scrambling from her seat on the floor and running to her dads’ room, pounding on their door. Cranky wasn’t the happiest that his warm spot on Annalise’s lap had been ruined, the cat meowed in annoyance before leaving to go to Annalise’s room and nap on her bed. “Quit fucking!” Annalise shouted as she continued to hit the door. 

“Lang-”

“We’re not fucking!” Anti’s call stopped Dark and he opened the door. “I was just putting on some sweatpants and I’m pretty sure you didn’t want a show.” He said. 

“Gross.” Annalise scrunched up her face. 

“Hello?” Mac’s voice made the three rush back into the living room. 

“Ma-” Mac’s name became a strange singing sound from Annalise when Dark moved her behind him, using his body as a well between his daughter and Mac. “Because he is such a danger, father.” Annalise huffed, crossing her arms, but staying behind Dark. 

“Who are you?” Dark asked. 

“I already told you, he’s-” 

“I want him to tell me.” Dark stated as Annalise let out another, louder, huff when Anti was now standing shoulder to shoulder with his husband, making the wall larger. 

“He’s not going to do anything.” Annalise sang with annoyance. 

“Speak.” Anti said to Mac, who was sitting on the couch and staring at the two men with wide eyes. 

“He’s scared. He’s currently getting glared down by a literal demon and a virus.” Annalise peeked her head between her dads’. “He’s probably pissing himself as we speak.” Anti groaned before changing his body to his human form and going over to Mac, crouching a bit, knowing that it made him look less intimidating. 

“We’re not gonna hurt ya, kid.” Anti said. “We just want to know who you are and how you got here.” 

“I might hurt him.” Dark muttered. 

“Dark, honey, bad cop will not work right now.” Anti glanced over his shoulder before looking back at Mac. 

“I’m Mac…” Mac answered softly. 

“And?” Anti asked. 

“And?” Mac scrunched his face a little in confusion. 

“How the fuck did you end up at our house?” 

“Oh! I...uh…” Mac chewed on his lip as he thought. “I have no idea.” 

“What was the last thing you remember?” Dark asked, his stance still firm and Annalise managed to stand next to him without getting pushed back again. 

“I was walking home.” Mac began answering, looking at Annalise as he spoke. “I passed by an ally and some weird looking dude jumped me, there were like cubes floating around him or something, it was weird.” Mac flinched back a little when he saw the three stiffen. “I know it sounds weird, but there were seriously like purple cubes or something. They came at me and the next thing I remember is waking up on your couch.” 

“Did the cubes look like this?” Anti held out a hand and had a few pixels come out of his palm. 

“Dude! Yeah!” Mac said. 

“There’s no way.” Annalise gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. 

“It’s been thirteen years.” Dark stated. 

“Plenty of time for one to learn how to use their powers.” Anti crushed the pixels in his hand before standing back up. 

“Why would they attack a random person and then bring them here?” Annalise asked. 

“It’s a sign. It has to be a sign.” Dark said. 

“A sign for what? The others are dead, there’s no way a new one would know what we did.” Anti said.

“We should get Mac home.” Annalise suggested.

“Absolutely not.” Dark went over to Mac. “Give me your phone.” 

“What?”

“Phone.” Dark repeated in a sterner tone. 

“O-Okay.” Mac took out his cell phone and handed it to the demon. 

“We need to keep him here. As long as they are out, Mac is in danger and you’re connected to him, so if he’s in danger, you’re in danger.” Dark said to Annalise as he began pressing buttons on the phone. 

“I’m assuming you go to the same school as Anna?” Anti asked Mac and got a head nod in response. 

“Hello, yes, this is Isaac Powell.” Dark began speaking into the phone and he walked off. 

“I’ll take you back to your house so you can get your things. We’ll provide food and all that jazz.” Anti took Mac by the wrist and lead him to one of the spare rooms. Annalise stood in the center of the living room, alone. 

“Hey, Annalise are you okay with a random boy moving into the house?” Annalise said in a low voice, turning to the side a little. “Oh yeah, I’m totally fine with some dude I met in the middle of nowhere moving in while you get pissy if I’m within a ten feet radius of my boyfriend.” Annalise said in her normal tone, turning the other way. “Maybe we should take that into consideration.” Annalise was doing the low-tone again. “Fucking, maybe?” Annalise huffed and threw her hands into the air. 

“Yes, I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I assure you that this is the best option for your child.” Dark was finishing up as he returned to the living room. “My partner will be coming down later with your son to get his clothes and some basic belongings. There’s no need to worry about food and such, all of that will be provided.” Annalise aimed her pout towards Dark. “Again, I apologize for the inconvenience. Everything will eventually settle itself out and your child will be safe. Goodbye.” Dark hung up the phone and sighed when he saw the Annalise was giving her ‘I’m not happy’ pout to him. 

“Do I get a say in this?” Annalise asked. 

“We are doing what is safest for you?” Dark stated. 

“By having some random guy move in? What’s Bing going to think of this?” Annalise put her hands on her hips. 

“There are two levels to answer that last question: one; I don’t care what Bing thinks and two: he’s smarter than what most people give him credit for and he will understand that having Mac in the house is the best choice.” 

“But-”

“No but’s about this.” Dark said,

“No if’s, and’s, or but’s.” Annalise said in a mocking tone, her pout coming back strong. “Can I at least go out with Bing so I can explain all of this?”

“You’re still grounded.” 

“Father!” Annalise held out the whine. 

“We are going to be very, very lenient with most parts of your punishment this time because at the moment we know that we’re going to have to do some things that go against what you’re grounded from but I will keep my foot down on certain things. You can handle two weeks of that because I will not risk you getting hurt because there is…” Dark stopped himself with a scoff. 

He didn’t want to say the words. None of them wanted to say the words. They were all avoiding them because speaking them would make it all too true. But it was true. They knew it was.

There was a new virus. 


	25. Poisoning The Well

Annalise sat in her English class, tapping away at her textbook and staring at the clock, willing it to go faster and let her leave this school. She didn’t really want to go home, but she didn’t want to be here. It’s been a week since Mac moved in and it was just annoying. Dark and Anti both watched Mac like hawks and because of that, all of the other egos have been coming over a lot as well to help the two keep an eye on everything in the house. The only good thing about it was that she got to see Bing often, but she also never had any alone time unless she was sleeping and even then she’s had to deal with Wilford suddenly barging into her room and asking where they kept the paprika because he was dying for a snack and it just had to be properly seasoned. 

“Annalise, if you’d care to finally listen, I have an announcement for tomorrow.” The teacher, Miss. Howland, said in a stern tone. Annalise just turned her head towards the teacher and kept a straight face. “Now, tomorrow we’ll be having a guest speaker a free-form ‘specialist’.” 

“Poisoning the well.” Annalise muttered when she saw Miss. Howland make air quotes. 

“Pardon?” 

“Poisoning the well.” Annalise repeated, a little louder. 

“What are you implying?” Miss. Howland pursed her lips in annoyance when Annalise let out a scoff. 

“I’m implying that you’re using the fallacy ‘poisoning the well’. I’m implying that you are making us think less of our guest speaker tomorrow since you are implying that said guest is a ‘specialist’ and not a specialist.” Annalise’s tone was harsh as she answered. 

“Annalise Powell, you will watch your tone in this classroom.” Miss. Howland warned.

“Then you should watch your tone when you speak of others.” Annalise paid no attention to the class’ reaction, little gasps and whispers filled the room. “You’re all for the ‘anti-bullying’ campaign this school claims to run when in fact none of you give a shit about any of us when it comes to that unless there is violence in the center of the hall that you are unable to ignore. And now you are using fallacies to insult someone you most likely don’t even know which, in the clearest form you can make it, is bullying.” 

“Annalise! To the principal’s office, now!” The room got tense and silent as Annalise slammed her book shut, stood from her desk, threw her bag over her shoulder and went over to the teacher’s desk. 

“Fuck you.” Annalise spat before dropping the book on the desk and walked out of the room. “I am fucking sick and tired of this school.” Annalise growled to herself as she walked. “Bunch of fucking idiots, bunch of fucking assholes, bunch of fucking…” Annalise stopped when she saw that Tiana was walking down the hall as well. “Tea…” Tiana just lowered her head and kept walking. “Tea!” Annalise ran over to her friend. 

“Don’t get near me!” Tiana screamed. Annalise froze and her eyes went wide. “Don’t get near me, freak!” It was Tiana’s turn to run. 

“T-Tiana.” Annalise could feel tears forming in her eyes but she blinked them away and sniffed before swallowing thickly and continuing her walk to the principal’s office. 

Annalise walked in and said nothing, sitting down in the ‘trouble chair’ and waiting in silence until Miss. Howland came in several minutes later. Annalise said nothing as Miss. Howland filled the principal in on what happened and she remained silent as her father was called, as he was most likely already driving up to get her, and until Dark walked into the office. 

“What happened?” Dark asked Annalise. 

“Your child was being very disrespectful in my classroom.” Miss. Howland stated. “She accused me of ‘poisoning the well’, implied that I was bullying due to it and then proceeded to use foul language after I told her to go to the office.” 

“How did she use the fallacy?” Dark hadn’t even looked at the woman as she spoke, his eyes remaining on his daughter. 

“She said ‘specialist’ instead of specialist when referring to a guest speaker.” Annalise answered in a soft voice, her hands barely lifting high enough to make the air quotes. 

“If we’re going on a technical-” 

“Annalise is suspended for a week.” The principal stated before Dark could finish. 

“Suspended!?” Dark snapped. 

“Fine. I’m okay with that.” Annalise got out of the chair and grabbed her bag, walking out. 

“Anna-wait-you, fuck!” Dark cursed before following Annalise. “Annalise, wait!” Dark caught Annalise by the wrist. 

“I just wanna go home.” Annalise said weakly. 

“Did something happen?” Dark asked, bending a little and putting his other hand on Annalise’s shoulder. 

“I don’t want to be here.” Dark could tell that it was taking everything in Annalise to not start crying her heart out. “I wanna go home, please.” Dark gave Annalise a quick hug before taking her bag, slipping it on and then lifting Annalise up. Annalise would usually protest but she just wrapped her arms around Dark and hid her face into his neck, letting him carry her out of the building and to the car. 

“You dad isn’t home right now.” Dark said when they pulled up to the house, the drive back had been stiff and silent. 

“Tiana hates me.” Annalise stared out of the window. “She screamed at me and called me a freak.” 

“You’re not-”

“I am a freak. I’m a monster. My body is made of literal pixels and I crave the death of others by my own hands.” 

“Anna-”

“Why am I even going to that school? I don’t fit in. I’m not one of them, I’ve never had and never will be one of them.” Annalise let out a shaky breath. “They all hate me. They all think I’m a fucking whore because of Kara. She doesn’t say anything about it anymore, but that doesn’t stop the rumor once it starts. I can’t just kill the whole school...no matter how much I want to.” 

“Because I wanted you to be a happy, normal, teenage girl.” Dark answered, rubbing his thumb on the steering wheel. “You were born into a life of chaos and insanity and I thought if you had school like every other person your age here, it’d give you something for stability.” Dark let out a sigh. “We’ll discuss it further later when your dad is back home and you’re feeling better. It’s not like we have a full week before you can return anyways.” 

“I blame you for my sarcasm.” Annalise laughed weakly. 

“And I blame your dad for your ability to always get in trouble.” Dark poked the tip of Annalise’s nose before getting out of the car. 

“Did you just boop me?” Annalise’s laugh was little stronger this time. “I can’t believe that you just booped me.” Annalise undid her seatbelt and smiled a little when Dark opened the car door for her, her backpack on his shoulder and his arms held out, inviting her to get carried again. “Please.” Annalise said before getting up and letting herself get hoisted back up. She rested her cheek on Dark’s shoulder and let out a long and sad breath. Why couldn’t life just be easy? 


	26. Southern Boy

“How did ya convince your dads to let me come over?” Keith asked, sitting crossed-legged on Annalise’s bed while Annalise was at her desk, 

“I didn’t.” 

“You what!?” Keith slapped his hands over his mouth and stared at the door for a moment before lowering his voice. “Are you tryin’ to get this little perky ass of mine killed?” 

“They won’t kill you.” Annalise stated, beginning to type away at her computer. 

“You father is huge!” Keith whispered harshly. 

“Call him short if you wanna see him really worked up.” Annalise laughed. 

“Again, I like my ass attached to my body.” Keith kept glancing over at the door. 

“They’re not going to come in, they’re busy.” Annalise pressed one more key before turning back towards Keith. 

“Doin’ what?” 

“Fucking.” Annalise laughed some more when Keith stiffened with embarrassment. “I’m just messing with you, they have a big job today and will be out of the house for the rest of the day in like, five minutes. Uncle Wil’s supposed to be over any second now.” 

“Because your gun-lovin' uncle is so much less scarier.” Keith huffed, a light tapping sound going unheard by the two teenagers.  

“Wil likes you, He’ll probably have no problem with you staying over while the dads are away.” Annalise perked up when her laptop beeped. 

“If I’m gonna die young, I at least want some questions answered.” Keith adjusted himself so he was closer to the edge of the bed. 

“I got suspended because I yelled at a teacher.” Annalise stated, skimming over a long message on her screen. 

“The entire school knew about that five minutes after you left.” Keith said. “What I wanna know about is Tiana screaming in the hall.” Annalise’s entire body slumped a little and she shut her laptop. 

“It’s nothing.” Annalise said. 

“My gay senses are tinglin’ and it’s telling me that what you are sayin’ is absolute bullshit.” Keith raised a brow and smiled as Annalise shook her head. “Come here and tell mama Keith what happened.” Keith patted the spot next to him on the bed. 

“Keith, I-”

“Don’t say no to mama Keith.” Keith warned in a silly tone and kept patting. Annalise just sighed and got out of her chair, grunting a little as she rolled onto her bed and rested her head on Keith’s lap. “You need a haircut.” Keith commented when he started to play with Annalise’s long locks. 

“Why is everyone telling me that?” Annalise muttered. 

“I think you just need a trim, some of these ends look like they died, came back and died again because they saw how ugly they were.” Keith clicked his tongue and was glad that he earned a laugh from Annalise. “So, fill me in. I could’ve sworn you and Sweet-Tea would be back on normal terms by now.” 

“I don’t think we ever will.” Annalise sighed. 

“What kind of an argument did y’all get into that would cause this? Y’all have had your tussles before but this is just...well...fucked up.” 

“I can’t tell you.” 

“Why not?” Keith asked. 

“I don’t want you to think I’m a monster too.” Annalise curled up a little. “I don’t want to hear you call me a freak too.” 

“A freak? She called you a freak? After everything y’all have been through? After everything we have all been through?” Keith’s other hand was gripping the sheet tightly while he kept the one on Annalise’s head steady. “A freak? She called you a freak?” 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” Annalise sat up and went to her rear, staring down. 

“I’m going to have a talk with her. Sweet-Tea’s gettin’ a little bitter for my taste and I like my coffee black.” 

“Don’t. She’s right. I am a freak.” Annalise looked up when Keith placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Do not ever call yourself that. You know how much I hate that word.” 

“This is different than when your mom-”

“We do not bring up the she-devil that’s six feet under when I am tryin’ to comfort you.” Keith lowered his hand and sighed. “We ain’t here for me right now. I wanna make sure you’re okay.” Annalise just whined and put her forehead on Keith’s shoulder. “What did you say to her?” 

“I can’t tell you.”

“What in the name of Kentucky Fried Lies are you fuckin’ talking about?” Keith patted at Annalise’s back and smiled when Annalise started laughing. 

“Kentucky Fried Lies?” Annalise asked, raising her head a little. 

“Homemade is the way to go.” Keith chuckled. “But, in all seriousness, what happened?” 

“I just...I told her…” Annalise let out a long sigh and hid her face again in Keith’s shoulder. “I told her some things about my family.” 

“Like-” 

“Hey, Mac and Cheese! Are you trying to get Annie’s attention? You gotta knock on the door!” Wilford’s voice said loudly. 

“I think Uncle Wil is here.” Annalise chuckled and hopped off of her bed. 

“Hey, you can’t just-” Keith let out a loud huff of air when Annalise opened her door and greeted Wilford. “Rude!” 

“You dads just left and I’m in charge.” Wilford snapped his suspenders against his chest and winced a little. 

“I can see why Google was my usual babysitter when I was younger.” Annalise teased. “Where did Mac go?” 

“He got scared when I hollered and took off.” Wilford laughed. “Well, hey there Keith-ster. When did you get here?” 

“Not long.” Keith answered with a smile. 

“How did you get Dark and Anti to...you snuck him in, didn’t you?” Wilford twitched his mustache. 

“No.” Annalise held out the word. 

“You certainly get that from your dad, he just loves sneaking things past ol’ Darky-boy.” Wilford laughed. 

“Hey, Wilford-”

“Keith-ster, I told ya, call me Wil.” Wilford said. 

“Wil.” Keith corrected. “Annalise is keepin’ a secret from me and she won’t spill.” 

“Now, what could that be?” Wilford winked as Annalise and wrapped an arm around Keith’s shoulder, not seeing the teen stiffen and blush a little. 

“She-” Keith cleared his throat when the word came out as a high-pitched squeak. “I wanna know what she told Tiana.” 

“Oh.” Wilford popped his lips before laughing and rubbing Keith’s shoulder. “I can’t tell you that or else it wouldn’t be a secret anymore.” Wilford continued laughing and let go. “How does some pizza for dinner sound?” He asked as he walked away. 

“Your blush is showing.” Annalise sang in a whisper as she passed Keith. 

“Shut up!” Keith pouted. 

“Keith?” Mac came out of the nearby room. 

“Yep, that’s me.” Keith greeted. 

“I’m Mac, pleasure to meet you.” Mac greeted with a small smile. 

“Now, don’t be all Mr. ‘Prim and Proper’ 'cause I’m new.” Keith chuckled. “I’m just a little ol’ southern boy.” 

“Sorry, I’m not the greatest with new people.” Mac let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head. 

“You got a fuzzy.” Keith said, picking off some purple fuzz from Mac’s shirt. 

“Oh...thanks.” Mac watched Keith’s hand. “How long have you and Annalise been friends?” 

“Since freshman year. Three years.” Keith added with a wink. “Annalise told me that you're a family friend, right?” 

“Yep.” Mac nodded his head. “But I haven’t seen her much, so I’m clueless about her.” 

“She’s a great gal, you’ll get along like that.” Keith snapped his fingers. “And you should see her with her boyfriend, they’re adorable.” 

“Keith-ster! Come in here and help me with the dough! Annalise doesn’t wanna ruin her nails!” Wiford called from the kitchen.

“Lies and slander, Wilford!” Annalise shouted. 

“Looks like we gotta help.” Keith laughed and took off. 

“Her boyfriend.” Mac huffed before following. 


	27. Sparky

Dark, Anti, Bing and Google all sat in a car in front of what looked like a mansion. Bing’s eyes were glowing very brightly as he stared at the house and Google had a screen projecting in front of him. 

“Seven guards, two dogs and a cat.” Bing stated, tilting his head a little as he continued to scan. “The target is in a room on the ground floor, furthest to the left, might be his bedroom and he seems to be laying down.” 

“It’s only seven.” Anti said from the seat behind Dark, leaning to the side to look at Google’s screen. 

“He must be taking a nap.” Dark said. 

“He’s not napping…” Bing said in a higher-pitched tone. “He has a friend.” 

“Someone’s sucking off a Senator? I’m so shocked.” Anti’s voice was heavy with sarcasm. “Wonder who she is.”

“He.” Bing corrected and flinched a little when Anti started screaming with laughter. 

“Anti, lower your voice.” Dark turned around to give his husband a light glare. 

“Mr. ‘I hate the gays’ is getting his dick sucked by another dude!” Anti yelled. 

“It’s very common for those who loudly proclaim their hatred for something to actually be part of the things they hate.” Google stated, flipping through several pages on his screen. 

“We’ll joke about this later, we need to get started soon or we’re going to lose this job.” Dark said in a hushed tone. “I’m not giving back twenty million dollars because a man is confused about what gets his dick wet.”

“I love it when you’re frustrated, your phrases are more entertaining.” Anti giggled. 

“They’re going to get very creative if we don’t get going now.” Dark undid his seatbelt. 

“The guard at the gate is due to leave his post any second now, he always leaves before the next guard shows up. We’ll be able to get in without any trouble.” 

“Why can’t I just kill him?” Anit asked with a huff. 

“Because you’re not the stealthiest killer and we have seven, technically eight other people we have to go through and we can’t have them know we’re here.” Dark answered. 

“I can kill quietly.” Anti pouted. “It’s just not fun.” 

“We’re not here to have fun, we’ll do that with the twenty million.” Dark said. 

“Are you going to buy me a new dress with all that money, Mr. Darky?” Anti used his ‘Harley Quinn’ accent, which sounded more like a poorly done Jersey accent. 

“Again, later.” Dark saw that Bing sat up a little straighter. “Time to go.” Dark said before opening the car door, Anti and Google followed suite. 

“Bing, do you remember what to do if a new person comes to the house?” Dark asked through the car door window. 

“Make a huge scene and scream?” Bing said. 

“That’s not-”

“I mean, he’s pretty damn close.” Anti chuckled, cutting Dark off. 

“Fine, but remember to contact Google.” Dark said. 

“Yes, sir.” Bing saluted, earning a sigh from Dark. 

“I’m beginning to question my daughter’s taste in men.” He muttered as he, Anti and Google walked towards the gate. 

“It could be worse.” Anti shrugged.

“How?” Dark asked.

“I don’t know, but it always could.” Anti shrugged again and the three ducked under the gate arm. “He’s not a bad guy for Annalise to date.” 

“I’d rather not have her be dating in general.” Dark muttered. “She just couldn’t be asexual like Host and the Jims. No, she had to be a hetero.” 

“Those damn heteros.” Anti laughed, giving Google a pat on the back. 

“Whatever you say.” Google rolled his eyes and went up to the panel at the front door. “I could hack this, but it would-” The android stopped when a cloud of green pixels flew into the panel. “I’m going to fight your husband.” Google said to Dark. 

“I wish you luck with that.” Dark chuckled and there was soon a beep and a clicking sound followed it. 

“We’re all clear to go.” Anti said after jumping out of the panel. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Google pressed his ear to the door before opening it. The three snuck in and Google shut the door behind him. “You get one beep on your phone, it’s a warning, you get two, run.” Google said to Dark and Anti in a whisper. 

“Got it.” Dark said. 

“Time to go sneaking.” Anti giggled. He cracked his knuckles before becoming a cloud of pixels again and floated around Dark’s body while the demon stepped to the side and blended into the shadows. 

“That’s still freaky, every time.” Google said to himself as he stared at nothing, the two men no longer visible. 

“I still don’t get why he needs seven of us.” A man said to another one as they walked down a hallway. Dark waited until they passed before quickly crossing the hall into another wall of shadows, Anti’s pixels glowing for only the brief second they were in the light. 

“He’s totally hiding something.” The second guard said, the men’s voices getting softer and softer. 

“Do you think it has anything to do with his seven o’clock appointment?” Dark and Anti didn’t get to hear the answer, the voices too quiet. 

“Three passed, four to go.” Anti’s voice spoke from a pixel that was close to Dark’s ear. 

“Don’t sound disappointed that you didn’t get to kill them.” Dark said as he neared a room with an open door. He waited a moment and watched as the pixels went to the floor and came out of the shadows, slipping into the room before returning and joining Dark again. 

“They’re all in there, playing poker. Greatest guards ever.” Anti scoffed. 

“They must just be for show.” Dark said. 

“I hope we see a show when we get to the bedroom.” Anti chuckled. 

“I’d rather not.” Dark quickly moved passed the door and pressed himself against the wall. 

“Dudes! I think I just saw something!” One of the men shouted and there was soon loud screeches of chairs being moved. “It was like a shadowman!” 

“Shadowman?” A second man scoffed. 

“I fucking got out of my seat.” A third huffed. 

“How many times do we have to tell you that kind of bullshit ain’t real?” A fourth scolded. 

“But-”

“There ain’t no aliens, demons or supernatural creatures.” Dark heard Anti hold back a laugh. “Can we please get back to our game?” 

“Yeah...sorry.”  

“‘Ain’t no aliens, demons or supernatural creatures.” Anti mocked as Dark moved on. “He sounds like Keith if he was a dumbass.” 

“Furthest room to the left.” Dark said when they reached the end of the hall. “Remember, in and out, make it as quiet as possible.” Dark spoke as Anti’s pixels moved so they were floating in front of his face. 

“He’s a big guy, gonna be a lot of energy to use.” Anti chuckled, poking Dark’s nose before moving down and going under the door. 

“Everything’s going smoothly.” Dark said to himself, pulling out his phone and not seeing anything on it. 

“I knew it!” Dark stiffened and turned around. “Shadowman!” 

“Shit!” 

“Did you just fucking taze me!?” Anti’s voice screamed from behind to door. 

“There is a shadowman! Call the front gate!” 

“Shit, shit, shit!” Dark kicked opened the bedroom door and ran in. He saw Anti holding the target against the wall while a young man was in the bed, hiding under the covers and cowering. “Sleep!” Dark threw a hand towards the young man and he passed out. 

“I’m going to have fun with your death.” Anti growled at the politician. 

“We don’t have time! We’ve been spotted!” 

“Fucking!” Anti gave the target a punch to the face before catching the man’s head with his hands. 

“Do I just shoot him!?” Dark ran back over to the door of the bedroom and slammed it shut. “Anti! Hurry!” 

“Got it!” Anti pressed his hands tighter and the target began to scream as green pixels slowly consumed him. 

“Break the door down!” Dark grunted as he felt someone ram their body into the door and he held it shut. 

“You have to be shitting me!” Dark cursed when he heard his phone beep. Google was sending a warning. 

“Help me!” Dark ended up stumbling back a little when there was more force of the door and he had to lean his entire body against the door to prevent them from coming in. 

“Anti!” Dark shouted. 

“Let them in.” Anti said with a light giggle. Dark was trying to calculate if that was a good idea, but when seven men pushed the door open with all of their strength, he wasn’t given much of a choice. 

“There’s another one!” 

“Say hello to Sparky.” Anti laughed before firing a taser into the front man’s chest. Anti suddenly became a cloud of pixels and traveled along the wire of the taser, going into the man he shot. 

“What the fuck!?” One of the men tried to run away, but Dark cut him off. “Shadowman!” The man raised a gun but didn’t have time to fire before Dark grabbed his wrist and snapped it. The gun fell from the hand with a scream following it. 

“W-What, h-happening to m-me!?” The man Anti had entered stuttered out, his body slowly becoming a bright green. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” The man cried out in pain before there was a flash of light and Anti now stood where the man was. 

“That was...interesting.” Anti licked his lips and looked at the raining men. 

“This is some sci-fi, bullshit!” 

“This is not fiction, you’re fucked.” Anti started to laugh as a wave of green pixels formed behind him. 

“This is not going to end well.” Dark released the wrist he had still been holding and he rushed over to the bed. He scooped up the young man and left the room in a cloud of black smoke, his phone beeping twice. 

“Bye-bye.” Anti waved a hand and the men started screaming and running as the pixels began to fall towards them. 

Dark came back empty-handed and was greeted by a scene of the remaining men being slowly absorbed alive. His eyes went wide when a memory hit him. 

“Anti! Don’t-” But Dark was too late, the men were gone and the pixels went back into Anti. 

“Dark, we need to leave, now! There are police!” Google shouted as he and Bing ran into the room. 

“Anti...are you okay dude?” Bing asked, seeing that Anti was glitching and curled up a little. 

“Yes. Yes.  _ Yes.  _ **_Yes_ ** !” Anti let out a laugh that was more of a scream and he twirled around. “I can feel it! All of it! I can feel it! I can feel it! I can! I can! I can!” Anti spoke fast as he glitched around the room. “Purple!” Anti yelled and pointed out of the room. Dark followed Anti’s finger and saw a cloud of purple pixels fly out of one of the rooms. “I’ll get him! I can get him! Let me get him!” 

“We need to go home!” Dark ordered. “Is everything situated?” 

“We’re good.” Google answered.

“Home? We’re going home? Gotta get home. Going home. Home, home, home, home!” Anti let out another laugh before glitching away. 

“Dark, what-” Bing didn’t get to finish his question before Dark left as well, his face filled with worry. 


	28. Over Charged

Mac stepped out of the restroom and headed into the living room where Annalise, Keith, and Wilford were sitting on the floor and talking. Annalise and Keith were curled up together under a large blanket while Wilford had a smaller one on his lap. 

“You’ll be back in time for prom week.” Keith said with a large smile. 

“I’m not going to prom.” Annalise said. 

“What!?” Keith put a hand to his chest. “You have to go to prom!” 

“Because I want to be in a crowded room with a bunch of people who either hate me or think I’m a prostitute.” Annalise huffed. 

“I think ol’ Bingy-boy was talking about prom, actually.” Wilford said, scratching his chin. 

“He wants to go?” Annalise smiled a little. 

“Am I going to be a third wheel?” Keith whined. 

“I can be your date, Keith-ster.” Wilford offered with a laugh. Keith stiffened and shot Annalise a glare when she joined the laughter. 

“I don’t think you’d be able to convince the school to allow Bing in.” Mac stated, sitting on the couch. 

“Why not?” Annalise asked.

“No one over the age of twenty-one is allowed to be invited to prom and your boyfriend does not look like he could pass off as a seventeen-year-old.” Mac answered with a shrug. “And you’ll have to put his real name down. I don’t think the school would believe that you’re dating a search engine.” 

“That is kind of a weird nickname to give him, is there a story behind that?” Keith asked. 

“He...he just really likes using...he likes to look things up and uh...” Annalise looked at Wilford. “So, Uncle Wil, being Keith’s date, huh?”

“I don’t think I could pull off being a seventeen-year-old either.” Wilford chuckled, running a hand through his pink hair. 

“I think-” Annalise stopped when there was a scream and Anti glitched into the house. “Dad?” 

“I can feel it! I can feel all of it!” Anti yelled, hands digging into his head. 

“Wilford, get everyone out of the house, now!” Dark ordered when he appeared. 

“Dad!?” Annalise tried to get to her glitching parent, but Wilford cut her off. 

“We need to leave.” Wilford said. 

“What happening to dad!?” Annalise asked. 

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go, go, go, go, go!” Anti was now on the other side of the room. “Let’s go!” Anti threw his hands down and a wave of green pixels came out of him, crashing into everyone and throwing them into the closest wall. “It’s in me! It’s all in me! I can feel it!” Anti’s hands were now on his face, tears forming as he struggled to breathe. 

“What is this!?” Keith shouted, several pixels remaining on his body. 

“Get them out!” Dark shouted. 

“Dad!” Annalise went to get up and was once again stopped by Wilford. 

“It’s not safe!” Wilford threw Annalise over his shoulder. 

“Dad! Dad!” Annalise screamed as she was carried out, Keith and Mac following the pink madman. “Dad!” 

“I love it! I hate it! I love it! I hate it!” Anti clawed at his face as he paced in a circle. 

“Anti. Anti, stop.” Dark slowly stepped over towards his husband. 

“I can feel it! I can feel them! They’re all inside of me!” Anti started to tremble, his glitching form making it look as if there were two of him. 

“It’s going to be okay.” Dark was now in front of Anti and he placed his hands on the other man’s shoulders. 

“It feels so good! But it hurts! It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!” Anti cried, letting out a scream. 

“I know it does. I know. It’ll go away.” Dark ignored the sharp shocks going into his hands as he moved them to grab Anti’s wrists. 

“It’s too much! Too much!” Anti jerked his head forward and ended up hitting Dark in the chest. Dark let out a grunt but didn’t loosen his hold. “T-They’re coursing th-through my veins.” Anti stuttered out, his breath becoming weak and shallow. “They’re i-in there.” Anti’s voice cracked a little. 

“It’s going to be okay.” Dark said through gritted teeth, trying to keep himself still as he was hit with clouds of pixels. A small line of them sliced him in the face, right under his eye. 

“I love it. I hate it. I love it. I hate it. I love it...I hate it...I...love…” Anti began panting and his voice got softer and softer. Eventually, Anti collapsed and Dark caught him. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay, dear.” Dark said and he moved Anti over to the couch. 

“I...I…” Anti tried to speak, but he wasn’t able to form any words. 

“I know, don’t worry, I know.” Dark picked up one of the blankets off of the ground and wrapped it around Anti’s shoulders. “It’s okay.” 

“Is everything okay?” Google asked as he ran into the house, Wilford right behind him. 

“Annalise, wait!” Bing tried to catch Annalise, but she came into the home as well. 

“Oh, my God!” She gasped when she saw her dads. 

“Everything's fine.” Dark winced as he got to his feet, burnt holes in his clothing and blood trickling down his cheek told Annalise otherwise. “Google, take Anti to our room and lay him down on our bed.” Dark ordered, swallowing when he was done speaking. Google just nodded and went over to Anti, giving him a testing touch on the shoulder before picking him up completely. Anti just stared blankly ahead and his body was limp as Google carried him away. 

“What happened to Dad? What happened to you? What the fuck happened!?” Annalise was on the verge of tears. 

“That is why we didn’t want you to go out on your own.” Dark answered. “You got lucky, Annalise. You’re young, you haven’t killed that much compared to your dad. He...he took in too many and he became overcharged.” 

“What does that even mean?” Annalise asked. 

“Remember when you had your moment? You sent Bing flying and caused him to overheat?” Dark took in a deep breath. “That was your first time. The first time is the easiest, but it gets harder and harder the more you do it. You’ll have this moment of bliss and it’ll feel amazing, but then the crash takes everything out of you and you have no control.” 

“Is dad going to be okay?”

“He’s going to be fine. He’ll recover. He always does.” 

“Are you going to be okay?” 

“Just a few burns and bruises, I’ve had much worse.” Dark let out a sigh when he saw that Keith was standing behind Wilford, a hand over his mouth. 

“What?.” Keith said softly. 

“Remember when I said I told Tiana something about my family that made her run?” Annalise asked, getting a head nod from Keith. “Here it is.” Annalise blinked and let her eyes change. “Please don’t run." 


	29. Too Much Tape

“We’ll just take his memory away.” Dark said before wincing as Wilford cleaned off the burn wound on his side. 

“Stay still.” Wilford huffed, grabbing a paper towel and cleaning up the water that he spilled on the kitchen floor while Dark shifted in the chair he was in. “And you can’t solve all of your problems with memory fucking.” 

“You weren’t there when Annalise lost Tiana. I will not let her lose another friend because of who we are.” Dark scratched at the bandage on his face. 

“It’s adorable that you care so much, but was Tiana really her friend if one little secret made her head for the hills?” Wilford went back to wound cleaning, giving Dark a light slap on the shoulder when the demon flinched away again. 

“They’ve been best friends for most of Annalise’s life. And us being supernatural murderers is not one little secret.” Dark gritted his teeth a little, wishing that these burn wounds were normal ones since those healed a lot faster on him but, no, he has Anti burns and those acted like what burn wounds would be on a human. 

“Like I said, you can’t be true friends with someone if you can’t accept them for their faults.” Wilford stepped away to get a bandage. “Just look at you and Anti.” 

“There’s a big difference between me and Anti and Annalise and Tiana.” Dark watched as Wilford applied a generous amount of Neosporin to the bandage.  

“You’re going to need some more Neosporin.” Wilford stated. “And with how Tiana just dropped Annie like that.” Wilford snapped his fingers. “It makes me question how much she actually cared about her.” 

“Annalise has tried to talk with Tiana...but she just runs away and insults her.” Dark held up his arm so Wilford could have better access to the wound and press the bandage against it. “Cold, cold, cold, cold.” Dark said under his breath. 

“She calls her a freak, doesn’t she?” Wilford asked after taking the medical tape out of his mouth. 

“Everyone hates that word.” Dark sighed. 

“Keith-ster does.” Wilford tore off some tape and started patching down the edges of the bandage. 

“The she-devil that lives six feet under.” Dark turned his head towards where the living room was, wishing he was in there to see how the conversation was going, but Wilford insisted that they step aside so he could get patched up. 

“I’m actually not worried about Keith-ster running. I think he’ll stay.” Wilford went back over to the counter and got another bandage. 

“Would life be easier or harder with Keith knowing?” Dark asked out loud. 

“Lying takes so much effort.” Wilford slathered up the bandage and returned to Dark. 

“How’s everything going in here?” Google asked as he stepped into the kitchen. 

“Got one more boo-boo to cover and Dark can put his shirt back on.” Wilford said with a light chuckle. 

“If I’m able to lower my arms. I think Wilford’s gone through three rolls of tape.” Dark patted at a spot on his stomach that was just a thick layer of tape. 

“It’s a good thing you shave.” Wilford teased and pressed the final bandage to a small burn on Dark’s chest. 

“How’s Anti?” Dark asked. 

“He’s still asleep but his body is no longer glitching...well, glitching more than his usual.” Google answered. “He was muttering something about hating it and loving it at the same time? He’s not doing it anymore, but it was a little...concerning.” 

“Hand me the scissors, I am not getting rug burn on my armpit because of your lack of taping skills.” Dark said to Wilford before turning back to Google. “He’ll be fine. He just needs some rest and I’ll take care of it from there.” Dark took the scissors from Wilford and cut out a chunk of tape before lowering his arm. “Thank you, Wil.” Dark grunted as he stood up, his torso feeling very stiff. “Let’s go check on the others.” 

“And...that’s it. That’s who I am.” Annalise was finishing up as Dark, Wilford, and Google entered the living room. Bing was sitting on the couch with Annalise next to him, holding hands. Keith was on the other end of the couch, his eyes wide in thought. The entire room was silent. The air was tense as they waited for Keith to speak. 

“That’s so cool!” Keith finally shouted, everyone’s jaw dropping in shock. “Y’all are like supernatural assassins? That’s better than any fiction I’ve read!” Keith clapped his hands. “What kind of things can y’all do? Who all is like that? Is Wil one too?” 

“Told you.” Wilford sang. “Keith-ster! Welcome to the club!” Wilford went over to the young man and clapped him on the back. “Good to know you’re not scared of all of this.”

“Oh, I’m totally pissin’ myself right now but I’m too amazed to care!” Keith let out a laugh. “So, you are dating a search engine?” Keith asked Annalise. “How does that work? Does he have a…well.” Keith winked and Annalise started laughing loudly while Bing slumped down, not even daring to look at Dark.

“He doesn’t if he wants to live.” Dark said with a slight growl. 

“We can gossip about that later.” Keith said in a whisper. 

“I can’t believe you’re not running!” Annalise squealed with joy and hugged Keith. 

“Why the hell would I run? You’re my friend, Ann.” Keith hugged Annalise back. “I still can’t believe Tiana did, though.” 

“We can discuss that later, first, we need to set some ground rules.” Dark stated.

“Alright, now I’m tempted to run.” Keith joked. 

“You can not tell anyone about this. No one.” Dark started. “We have the ability to take away your memories and I will not hesitate to do so if I believe for even a second that you will cause harm to my family.” 

“I’m a little southern gay, what could I do?” Keith said with. a smile that slowly faded away as Dark continued his hard stare. “I promise I won’t tell. Annalise is the only real friend that I have, why would I hurt her?” 

“The world is a fucked up place.” Annalise said softly. 

“Well, I ain’t fuckin’ it more.” Keith chuckled, patting Annalise’s shoulder. 

“I’m going to check on Anti, fill the others in and where is Mac?” Dark asked. 

“He went to his room, he said he wasn’t feeling well.” Bing answered. 

“Google, check on Mac.” Dark ordered. “Keith, call your father and tell him you’re staying here for the night.” Keith nodded his head and excused himself out of the room. Dark winced a little when Annalise suddenly hugged him. 

“Thanks.” Annalise said softly. Dark just sighed and patted Annalise’s back, she was very lucky that she was one of his two his weak spots. 


	30. Happy Times

Anti let out a long, low groan as he slowly came to. He could feel a thick cloud in his head and it took everything in him to not drift back to sleep. 

“Anti?” Dark’s voice pulled Anti fully back into reality. 

“Darky?” Anti croaked out, turning his head and blinking longer than he wanted. 

“You’re awake.” The relief in Dark’s voice and the soft hand on Anti’s face made him smile. 

“Give or take.” Anti chuckled, placing his hand over Dark’s. “Dark…” Anti’s face scrunched up with worry when he saw the bandages covering Dark’s torso. “Did I hurt you?” 

“It looks a lot worse than what it is.” Dark chuckled. “I had Wilford patch me up.” 

“Dark...Darky-baby. I’m so sorry.” Anti pressed a kiss to Dark’s palm. “I didn’t mean-” 

“Hush, hush. It’s okay.” Dark put his thumb over Anti’s lips. “I promise that everything is okay.” Anti smiled and opened his mouth, using his tongue to pull Dark’s thumb in. Dark let out a soft laugh and took his hand back. He leaned down and gave his giggling husband a quick kiss. “How are you feeling, dear?” Dark raised a brow when Anti started laughing. 

“We’ve been married for over thirteen years and dated for four and I’m still not used to you calling me ‘dear’ or ‘honey’ or any of those cute little pet names.” Anti said, shaking his head as he looked at the ceiling in disbelief. “I’m still not used to the fact that you’re mine. That you’re with me.” 

“Nice to know I’m not the only one that feels the same way.” Dark rubbed at Anti’s chest, happy to hear the little sigh of pleasure that came out of Anti. 

“Remember when we first met?” Anti asked, closing his eyes and relaxing into the soft massage. 

“You punched me in the face.” Dark said. 

“It was a damn good punch.” Anti chuckled. 

“I just asked what your name was.” Dark’s hand went to Anti’s stomach and he smiled when Anti let out a giggle and placed his hands over Dark’s, making him stop. 

“I was a pissy little newborn virus.” Anti hugged Dark’s arm and slowly sat up. 

“Don’t rush yourself.” Dark said, using his other hand to keep Anti from falling back down. 

“You’re the one whiter than Jack’s stomach.” Anti slid his legs around to the edge of the bed. 

“Did you really just compare my bandages to your ex-host’s skin-tone?” Dark asked with an eye roll as he helped Anti to his feet. 

“I could compare it to something else.” Anti winked. 

“You just had an overcharge from eight people and my chest is covered in burn wounds, we are not making innuendos right now.” Dark sighed.

“Wait? Eight? Only eight?” 

“Yeah, there were seven guards and the target.” 

“Eight people would not make me overcharge. Eight people would make me hyper as hell and you’d have to fuck me senseless for an entire night, maybe two depending on the people, but eight would not make me shut down like that.” Anti said.

“We’ll discuss this later, I’m sure Annalise would love to see that you’re fine.” Dark started walking to the door with Anti. “Oh and Keith knows everything and he didn’t run.” 

“Told you he wouldn’t.” Anti chuckled. 

“Dad!” Annalise yelled when the two stepped into the living room. Annalise ran over to Anti and gave him a hug. 

“So, when do I get to see some wings?” Keith asked from the couch. 

“When I can actually feel my dick between my legs.” Anti answered, laughing when Keith let out little stutters, not expecting that to be Anti’s answer. 

“Told you I get it from my dad.” Annalise chuckled, letting Anti go so he and Dark could walk over to the couch. 

“You haven’t been awake for five minutes and you’re already talking about your genitalia.” Google sighed.

“You know you love me Google.” Anti grunted as he and Dark sat down, Dark letting out his own wince as well. 

“Where are Bing and Mac?” Dark asked. 

“They’re in the kitchen.” Wilford answered. “Mac got a little peckish.” 

“Why did Bing go with him?”

“He didn’t want Mac to be alone after everything that happened.” 

“That’s sweet of him.” Anti chuckled, resting his head on Dark’s shoulder.

“It is, isn’t it?” Annalise hummed, looking off to where the kitchen was. 

“ _ Can you feel the love tonight _ ?” Keith sang. 

“Shut up!” Annalise turned towards Keith and lightly slapped at his arm. 

“You love him, you love him.” Keith kept singing. 

“Maybe!” Annalise’s slaps got slower and slower. She chewed on her lip as they curled up into a shy smile and her face flushed a little. “Maybe…” She added in a softer voice. Keith let out a squeal and hugged Annalise. 

“That’s so gosh-darn cute!” Keith chuckled. 

“Oh, shut up.” Annalise said, weakly struggling against Keith’s hold. 

“I can hear the wedding bells!” Wilford clapped his hands as he chuckled. 

“Uncle Wil!” Annalise protested as Wilford went over to her and took her hand. Keith let Annalise go and started laughing as Wilford danced around the room with Annalise. 

“ _ Here comes the bride, all dressed in white _ !” Wilford spun around with a very giggly Annalise. 

“Uncle Wil!” Annalise repeated, more laughter in her voice this time. 

“Maybe we will become grandparents.” Anti grinned at Dark. Dark just clenched his jaw. “I think Chrome would be a good name.” Dark bit his lip as he held back a laugh. “Or their name could be Microsoft Edge if they’re edgy like their grandpapa.” Dark put a hand over his face and let out a soft snort. “Cortana would work if they’re a girl.” 

“Anti, I love you, but please stop.” Dark leaned his head back and laughed. 

“Are we partying without me?” Bing chuckled as he and Mac came back into the room. 

“We’re planning your wedding Bingy-boy!” Wilford announced, twirling Annalise to Bing. 

“Wedding?” Bing squeaked as he caught Annalise, his hands landing on her hips.

“Wilford’s just being himself.” Annalise chuckled and poked Bing’s nose. “A little shit.” 

“Language.” Dark said. 

“We could always turn on Bing’s safe search and he’ll end up bleeping out any swears around him.” Google suggested. 

“That would get annoying in five minutes around Anti.” Bing said. 

“Fucker’s got a point.” Anti chuckled. 

“Half his speech at the weddin’ would be bleeped.” Keith laughed. 

“Can we stop talking about a wedding that’s not happening.” Annalise said with an eye roll. 

“Well, we’ll talk all about it when the time comes.” Wilford said.

“If.” Annalise corrected.

“When.” Wilford clapped his hands on Bing’s shoulders. “And Bing better make the proposal great.” Bing just let out a nervous laugh. 

“I bet the wedding would be great.” Mac muttered while the others continued to tease Annalise and Bing. 


	31. What A Shame

Dark sat in his office, making a face of discomfort as the bandages rubbed against his shirt. They were practically healed at this point, but Anti insisted that he keeps them wrapped up for another few days since the overcharge had happened on Friday and it was only Monday morning. He was tempted to remove them anyways since Anti had been...himself. Anti had said there was to be no sex until Dark was healed and even taped a piece of paper on his back that read: 

_ Do Not Enter _

Dark had a plan to show Anti that he was just fine tonight, he was going to call Wilford after he finished this client’s personal contract and have his friend take Annalise to the Iplier Manor for the night. Dark stopped his writing at that thought. Maybe he’ll call Chase and have Annalise go to the Septiceye House instead. Dark’s thoughts were interrupted by a ringing. 

“Hello?” Dark said into his phone after answering it. 

“Hi, Mr. Powell...Mr. Iplier...Darkiplier...what do I call you?” Keith asked, sounding a little winded. 

“Dark will do.” Dark stated, setting his pen down. “Is there something wrong?” 

“Yeah. I just got out of school early because literally half of the student body is missin’.” 

“What!?” Dark quickly grabbed his laptop and did a quick search. “The average high school holds seven hundred and fifty-two people…” He read out loud and did some mental math. “That’s three hundred and seventy-six people!” 

“They made a big spiel at the school about goin’ straight home and stayin’ safe cause they all went missin’ on Friday.” Keith let out a chuckle. “I don’t think they were supposed to say that last part.” 

“Annalise!” Dark called out. 

“What!?” Analise called back. 

“Keith, are you heading home?” Dark asked into the phone.

“You making me get up.” Annalise groaned loudly. 

“Nope.” Keith popped his ‘p’.

“Where are you heading?” Dark let out a sigh when he heard the doorbell ring. 

“I’ll give you a guess.” Keith chuckled. 

“I got it!” Annalise shouted. 

“Teenagers are going to be the death of me.” Dark grumbled, hanging up his phone and began calling the others. 

“Keith? Why are you here?” Annalise asked when she opened the door. “It’s not even noon.” 

“School’s canceled because everyone’s missin’.” Keith stepped into the house and slipped off his backpack as he headed for the kitchen.

“Wait, what?” Annalise shook her head in shock. 

“Literally half of the student body ain’t home or at school.” Keith opened the fridge and grabbed himself a juice packet. 

“What happened?” Annalise asked out loud. 

“I got a theory.” Keith stabbed the straw into the packet. “They went missin’ Friday, your dad did his over energy blow-up thingy Friday and y’all told me how that works so…”

“Do you really think my dad ate half the school!?” Annalise shouted. 

“Well, that would explain the overcharge.” Anti muttered, rubbing sleep from his eyes. 

“Dad, you’re not wearing clothes.” Annalise groaned while Keith was struggling not to look. 

“It’s too hot in my room because-” Anti tilted his head back and yelled: “-someone won’t let me fix the air conditioner!” 

“If you won’t let father take off his bandages, he’s not going to let you go into machines.” Annalise said and Keith was now facing away from Anti, sipping on the juice packet. Anti grabbed himself a box a cereal and stuck his hand into it.  

“He’s probably calling everyone. Looks like you’ll be seeing your boyfriend today. And so will you, Keith-ster.” Anti winked and shoved a handful of dry cereal into his mouth. 

“I’m not even gonna dignify that with a response.” Keith held his head up and walked out of the kitchen. 

“Anti, put on some pants, the others will be over soon.” Dark stated as he passed by Keith. 

“Do I have to wear pants?” Anti asked with his mouth full. 

“The others are not allowed to see you bare.” Dark said. “And I can’t let them know what your boy looks like now or they’ll be very confused the next time they see you after tonight.” 

“Y’all are gross!” Annalise shouted and left as well. 

_ x~x~x _

“Here you go, Bingy.” Annalise said, handing Bing an ice pack as she sat on the edge of the bed with Bing.

“I have no idea where this headache came from.” Bing sighed, pressing the pack to his forehead. 

“My living room is currently filled with all of the egos, that would give anyone a headache.” Annalise chuckled.

“I’m glad you suggested glitching over to the Manor, it’s a lot quieter here.” Bing said, blinking slowly as he grimaced. 

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay? Should I go back and get Google?” Annalise asked, rubbing Bing’s shoulder. 

“No…” Bing gently pushed Annalise’s hand away. “I can’t do this.” 

“It’s just a headache.” Annalise weakly laughed. 

“I’m not talking about the headache.” Bing lowered the ice-pack, looking down at the ground and shaking his head. 

“Well...what are you talking about?” 

“I can’t do this.” Bing used a finger to point at himself and then at Annalise. “I can’t do...I can’t...us.” 

“Bingy?” Annalise's voice cracked a little. “What are you saying?” 

“It’s just not...It’s not working.” Bing rubbed his eye. 

“What do you mean, it’s not working?”Annalise’s voice was getting a little louder. “Am I missing something? Was I doing something that I didn’t even know!?” 

“I don’t know. Something just doesn’t feel right about us.” Bing sighed. 

“Bing...Bing please.” Annalise was quiet again as she pleaded, placing her hand on Bing’s thigh and staring at the spot when Bing got up and moved away. “Why? Why are you doing this?” 

“I don’t know.” Bing answered, rubbing his eye again. 

“Tell me! Tell me, please! Tell me what I did wrong!” Annalise screamed. 

“Annalise...I think you should leave.” Bing said. 

“Bing.” Annalise got up and went over to Bing. “Bing, wait, please.” Annalise put her hands over her mouth to hold back a sob when Bing moved away from her. “I love you.” 

“I’ll see you later.” Bing whispered. Annalise choked on her sob this time before glitching away. 

“It has to be the new virus that caused-” Dark stopped his statement when Annalise glitched in front of him, crying into her hands. “Annalise?” 

“He...H-He…” Annalise stuttered while Dark stood up and hugged her. 

“Why ain’t Bing with you?” Keith asked when he left Annalise’s room. 

“He broke up with me.” Annalise cried, holding onto Dark’s shirt as she sobbed harder. 

“What a shame.” Mac muttered, rubbing his eye. 


	32. Quoting Memes

“Is he an idiot!?”   
“Why would he do that!?”   
“That doesn’t make any sense!”   
“What happened!?”

“ **_Shut up_ ** !” Dark’s yell made the room go silent. 

“It’s okay.” Anti said softly as he rubbed Annalise’s back, seeing that she had flinched when Dark raised his voice. She was already not reacting well to all of the egos yelling, adding Dark to the mix made it a thousand times worse. 

“That was terrifyin’ yet arousin’ at the same time.” Keith muttered to himself. 

“Well, mark me down as scared and horny.” Wilford chuckled, making Keith curl up a little in embarrassment.

“Everyone out of the house.” Dark ordered. “Now.” He added when he saw that they were all about to protest. “Wilford, take Keith to the Iplier Manor. He is no longer safe and we’ll need to keep an eye on him. Take Mac with you.” 

“We’re going on a trip, everybody.” Wilford announced before clapping his hands and making everyone but Annalise, Dark, and Anti disappear into a cloud of pink smoke. 

“Anna, what happened?” Anti asked when they were finally alone. 

“He...he just said it wasn’t working. That it didn’t feel right.” Annalise answered, voice muffled by Dark’s shirt. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand at all.” 

“Let’s sit you down.” Anti said. “Dark, let her go.” Dark’s jaw was clenched tightly and he lowered his arms. “It’s okay, princess. I promise it’s okay.” Anti lead Annalise to the couch and had her sit. “I’m going to get you some water and chocolate ice cream. I’ll set up the projector and we can watch whatever you want...okay?” Anti saw that Annalise nodded slightly and he smiled at her before going back to Dark. “Come with me.” Anti looped his arm through Dark’s and had him go into the kitchen with him. 

“It is literally taking every single ounce of control that I have to not go over to the Iplier Manor and beat the life out of Bing.” Dark said in a harsh whisper through gritted teeth. 

“And you don’t think I’m in the same boat?” Anti whispered back. “Every single fiber of my being wants to glitch over there and fuck with Bing’s circuits to the point of no return but we have a daughter to take care of. She is currently in a vulnerable state and with the fact that there is a new virus running around and fucking shit up, we need to get her back at one hundred present as soon as possible.” 

“I hate it when you’re the rational one.” Dark huffed. 

“So do I.” Anti took three spoons out of a drawer before heading over to the fridge. 

“The others are probably all giving Bing a piece of their mind right now.” Dark said while Anti pulled out a carton of chocolate ice cream out of the freezer. 

“He can get it from the daddy demons later.” Anti said, handing one of the spoons to Dark. 

“Did you just call us daddy demons?” Dark asked with a light scoff.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve called us worse things. Like, you being an asshole and me being a big ol’ whore.” 

“Don’t call yourself-” 

“I was a man-whore before we got together. I know this, I accept this, it’s fine.” Anti waved his hand. 

“I’m going to start punishing you if you keep calling yourself that.” Dark warned in a teasing tone. 

“What kind of punishment?” Anti asked with a slight purr.

“I’ll show you after Annalise goes to bed.” 

“Can’t wait.”

“Trust me, you will be.” Anti gave Dark a quick kiss and turned away, making sure that his hips swayed more than they naturally would. He paused, looked over her shoulder and winked when he saw that Dark was staring with a smirk. Dark moved to the edge of the room and leaned against the wall, watching what Anti was going to do.

“Hey Anna, how we doing?” Anti asked, sitting on the couch with Annalise. Annalise just stared at her fingers and played with them. “Alright…” Anti sat the ice cream and spoons down before leaning a little bit. “Hey, hey, Anna.” Anti made his voice go higher before saying “Fuck ya chicken strips.” Annalise just moved her eyes so she was looking at Anti. “Hi, welcome to Chili's.” A small smile tugged at the end of Annalise’s lips. “Stop,” Anti held out the word and poked Annalise’s shoulder. “I could’ve dropped my croissant.” The smile was on Annalise’s face for a moment before it went away again. “Hurricane Katrina? More like Hurricane Tortilla." Anti sang out the last part of the phrase. Annalise bit her lip to hold back a small laugh. “Two bros, chilling in a hot tub, five feet apart ‘cause they're not gay." Anti sang and Annalise couldn’t stop herself from letting out a light giggle. Anti picked up one of the spoons and held it in front of Annalise. “This bitch empty, yeet!” Anti threw the spoon across the room. He flinched a little when the spoon flew right past Dark’s face, almost hitting him. 

“Did you just ‘yeet’ a spoon at me?” Dark’s comment made Annalise lost it, laughing loudly and holding her stomach. Anti was laughing as well, laughing hard enough to make him roll off the couch and lay on the floor. 

“I-I need that on a sh-shirt.” Anti said between gasps of air. 

“See? I can be funny too.” Dark said, puffing his chest out a little. 

“I can’t breathe!” Annalise was now flat on the couch. 

“I’ll go get a clean spoon because you are not eating ice cream with a spoon that’s been on the carpet, I haven’t been able to sweep in a while.” Dark stated and headed over to the thrown spoon. He hummed when his phone began to ring. “Hello?” 

“I am very tempted to put that on a shirt and give it to him for Christmas.” Anti said to Annalise, both of them still giggling a little. 

“Can you get me a matching one?” Annalise asked. 

“He’s what!?” Dark yelled into the phone. 

“Father?”

“Darky?” 

“Anti, we need to talk, privately, now.” Dark pocketed his phone. 

“Wait, what happened.” Annalise sat up. 

“Here, eat some ice cream.” Anti handed Annalise the remaining spoon and carton of ice cream before jogging over to Dark. 

“Wait, don’t-” Annalise let out a groan when Anti and Dark went away in a cloud of black smoke. “Fucking rude.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket when it buzzed and gasped when she read the text from Keith. 

_ Bing is missing.  _


	33. The New Virus

Annalise glitched into the Iplier Manor, hearing voices coming from Bing’s room. 

“I’ve checked multiple times, I am unable to track Bing.” Google stated. 

“Try again, he’s a literal search engine. Search engine’s don’t just disappear.” Dark said. 

“Unless he ran away.” Dr. Iplier suggested. 

“Even if he did run away, I would be able to track him. He can’t shut himself off completely like that unless he’s…” Google’s sentence trailed when he saw Annalise at the door. 

“Unless he’s what?” Annalise asked. 

“Keith must have texted her.” Anti said to Dark. 

“Annalise, go to the living with Keith, Mac, and Wilford, we’ll handle this.” Dark said. 

“Unless he’s what, Google?” Annalise ignored her father. “Unless he’s what!?” 

“Annalise, please.” Dark walked over to Annalise. 

“Unless he’s dead!?” Annalise could feel her stomach tightening. “Is he dead!?” 

“We’re figuring that out, dear. Please, go to the living room.” Dark said. 

“Let me help! Please! I can help! He can’t be dead, he can’t!” Annalise cried. 

“Anti.” Dark said with a sigh. Anti nodded and went to Annalise as well, placing a hand on her shoulder and glitching the two away before Annalise could protest. 

“If you think I’m just going to sit in the living room and do nothing, you’re wrong!” Annalise shouted after getting left in the room, knowing that her voice was loud enough to carry back to Bing’s room. 

“Annie, you gotta let them do what they do best.” Wilford said from behind Annalise. 

“They find people using electronics and the internet, Bing’s offline by the sounds of it.” Annalise protested. 

“Even the website’s down.” Keith said, showing Annalise his phone. 

“Like I said, let them do what they do best, while we do what we do best.” Wilford gave Annalise a wink. 

“Time to misbehave?” Annalise asked with a smirk.

“Absolutely.” Wilford chuckled and looped his arms through Keith’s and Annalise’s before the three left in a cloud of pink smoke, leaving Mac behind on the couch listening to music on his headphones and reading on his phone. 

_ x~x~x _

“You’re adorable.” 

“Stop it, no I’m not.” 

“You’re a cute little kitten, my cute little kitten.”

“Ch-Chase.” 

“Are you two really trying to fuck on the couch again!?” Annalise’s shout made Chase yelp and fall off of said couch, leaving a very red-faced Marvin alone on it. “Uncle Kitty, I can see your tummy.” Annalise added with a chuckle. 

“Why are you guys here?” Marvin asked, lowering his t-shirt. “Wait, are you okay? You were just crying like ten minutes ago.” 

“Bing’s missin’.” Keith said. 

“He probably ran away from the literal demons that are your dads.” Chase said from the floor. 

“Google can’t track him and the website is offline. We all know what that means.” Wilford said. 

“Oh, shit is he-”

“We don’t know.” Wilford cut Chase off before he could finish. “We’re hoping Mr. Kitten can help us find him.” 

“Okay, don’t call me that.” Marvin said as he got up. “And I can try using a tracking spell if I can get something of his.” 

“Give me a second.” Annalise said before glitching away. 

“Were you two really gonna fuck on the couch?” Keith asked. Chase just let out a groan and laid down on the ground while Marvin just coughed into his hand. 

“Will a shirt work?” Annalise asked after glitching back in, holding a black t-shirt. 

“Why do you have one of Bing’s shirts?” Keith asked with a grin. 

“Oh, my, Annie.” Wilford placed a hand on his chest. 

“Shut up!” Annalise blushed and threw the shirt at Marvin. 

“It smells of perfume.” Marvin sang. 

“That’s adorable!” Wilford and Keith both said. 

“Shut up!” Annalise repeated, crossing her arms and tucking her chin into her neck, raising her shoulders a little. “I just...he...and…” Annalise found herself beginning to cry again. 

“Come here Annie, come here.” Wilford hugged Annalise. “Let me tell you something. I know that Bing didn’t want to break up with you.” 

“What?” Annalise asked. 

“I know Bingy-boy pretty well and he really does care for you. I’m not going to say everything that he’s told me, but you are very important to him. Something is happening, I know it.” Annalise stared up at Wilford with wide eyes. 

“The spell’s ready.” Marvin said, the shirt now glowing with a green hue. “It should take you to the last place Bing was active.” Marvin handed Annalise the shirt. “Don’t do anything too stupid you three.” 

“No promises.” Annalise, Wilford, and Keith all said as they suddenly vanished. 

“They’re gonna fuck on the couch.” Annalise said when they arrived in the middle of an empty village. 

“Uh, where are we?” Keith asked while Annalise took the shirt and tucked as much of it as she could into her jean pocket. 

“I don’t know.” Wilford said. 

“Purple!” Annalise suddenly shouted and took off, chasing after a cloud of purple pixels. 

“I thought we weren’t supposed...damn it!” Keith cursed when Wilford took off as well and Keith began running. “I am not a fit gay!” Keith called when he was already falling behind. Wilford quickly turned around, caught Keith and lifted him up before continuing running after Annalise. “When I said I wanted to be swept off my feet, I didn’t mean literally!” Keith shouted as he clung onto Wilford for dear life. Annalise chased the purple cloud and glitched in front of it, cursing when it split into two and went around her. 

“I just need one pixel!” She shouted, taking off again. 

“Annie, wait!” Wilford called out. 

“Can’t you teleport?” Keith asked.

“Not like that.” Wilford stated, stumbling to a stop and almost dropping Keith when Annalise glitched away again and he could see her. “Annie! Annie!” 

Annalise glitched into a house, finding that the pixels were now gone. She cursed and took a moment to catch her breath. 

“Annalise.” 

“Mac?” Annalise straightened up when she saw Mac enter the room she was in, the purple pixels floating around him. 

“No one understands you Annalise, but I do.” Mac said, walking up to Annalise. “To be born a virus, to be born into a life you never asked for. To crave blood on your hands since the day you came out of the womb.” Annalise’s eyes went wide. 

“You have to be shitting me.” Annalise whispered. 

“Bing doesn’t understand, he will never understand. But I do. I’ve watched you, Annalise, I’ve watched you for a long time, trying to understand how you could pretend to be normal when you know you’re much better than that?” 

“Mac, you’re a fucking creep.” Annalise spat, taking a step away from Mac. 

“I’m the creep that got rid of your bullies, they’re all inside of your dad. Don’t worry about Tiana, you’ll have the honor of taking her out yourself.” Mac held his hand out. 

“How-”

“Pixels spread, Annalise. They spread like the virus we are, especially if they’re given a hand.” Mac moved even closer to Annalise. “I care about you, Annalise. I want you to be happy, I want you to have everything you could ever dream. Bing and the others will only get in your way, all you need is me. Bing doesn’t love you, but I do.” Mac grabbed Annalise’s face and kissed her. Annalise immediately shoved Mac away and struck him across the face. 

“You’re a fucking piece of shit! You’re nothing!” Annalise screamed. “We took you in, we wanted to make sure that you’d be safe! And you’ve been the asshole fucking with my family this whole time!? Fuck you! Fuck you, you fucking-” Annalise stopped when she felt something go into her stomach. She shook as she slowly lowered her gaze and saw a spike of purple pixels was now beginning to soak with her blood. 

“We were the only two of our kind. We could have made the world ours. But since you don’t want to be with me, no one can be with you.” Mac yanked the spike out of Annalise and watched as she fell to her knees. “Goodbye, Annalise.” Mac stated before glitching away, not seeing the orange pixel falling from Annalise’s back and vanishing as well. 


	34. Papa

“I think Marvin has a spell that he can use.” Bim said, his voice not fully connecting in Anti’s head as his attention was drawn to something falling next to him. He held his hand out and his eyes went wide when he saw that it was an orange pixel.

“Dark, I think-”

“Hey, guys!” Wilford greeted, popping into the room in a cloud of pink smoke. “I may or may not have lost Annie.”

“Don’t tell them that while you’re holdin’ me! I will not be your human shield!” Keith shouted, punching at Wilford’s back. “I am a legal adult and I demand my rights to be heard!”

“You lost our daughter!?” Dark shouted.

“She kind of took off after a bunch of purple pixels.” Wilford scratched the back of his head.

“Seriously, put me down. I am not dyin’ today by a pissed off demon, I got too many things I wanna do before I go.” Keith continued his struggle.

“You let her go after the new virus!?” Dark didn’t see Anti staring at his hand and using his green pixels to make the orange one grow.

“Why are you so strong!?” Keith whined.

“We just wanted to find Bing and the pixels showed up.” Wilford said.

“Where did you take her!?” Dark demanded.

“Can we stop ignoring the gay in distress!?” Keith snapped.

“I found her.” Anti suddenly said, placing a hand on Dark’s shoulder and glitching the two away.

“Annalise!” Anti and Dark both yelled when they found Annalise curled up on the ground, holding her stomach, and a puddle of blood around her. They quickly rushed over to Annalise, both falling to their knees. Annalise moved her head a little when she saw Dark.

“P-Papa?” Annalise stuttered out. “P-Papa...papa it hurts.”

“Annalise.” Dark felt his heart shatter, it’s been years since Annalise had called him that. “Annalise, it’s going to be okay.” Dark placed his hand on Annalise’s cheek, lifting her head a little.

“Papa...papa, I’m cold.” Annalise gasped out.

“Anti, Anti please tell me you can save her.” Dark said, looking at Anti with tears forming in his eyes. Anti was already crying and his hand was covered in green pixels.

“I’m going to try my best.” Anti said, gently rolling Annalise to her back.

“Daddy…” Annalise whimpered as Anti moved her hand away from the hole in her stomach. “Daddy, I don’t like it.”

“I know sweetie, I know. It’ll be over as soon as possible.” Anti leaned over and pressed a kiss to Annalise’s forehead.

“It hurts...it hurts…” Annalise said in a shaky voice.

“I know, it does. It does hurt, but it’ll be okay. It will be okay.” Anti placed his hand over the wound, the pixels glowing brighter as they spread across Annalise’s stomach. “We’re here. We’re here, Anna.”

“It’s going to be okay, princess. We love you.” Dark held Annalise’s hand as he gently wiped away her tears with his thumb.

“Daddy...papa…”

_x~x~x_

The room was silent, tense and no one was able to look at each other. Wilford had found Dark, Anti, and Annalise after going back to the village. He brought them back to their house and then got the other egos and filled them in. They were all now sitting in Dark’s and Anti’s living room while Keith paced.

“Keith-ster, sit down.” Wilford said.

“I can’t! I can’t stay still!” Keith went over to Wilford and put his hands on the other man’s shoulders. “I don’t know how y’all are able to just sit around while Bing and Mac are now both missin’ and Annalise might...she might…” Keith struggled to speak as tears began to form. “She…” Keith’s voice cracked and he squeezed Wilford’s shoulders.

“Come here.” Wilford wrapped his arms around Keith and pulled him down to his lap, letting the young man cry into his chest.

“The friend of the offspring is upset.” Reporter Jim stated while Cameraman Jim went over to Keith and patted his back. Everyone’s attention went to the door when Dr. Schneeplestein and Dr. Iplier stepped out.

“She’s alive.” Dr. Iplier stated.

“She’ll be fine.” Dr. Schneeplestein added.

“Do you know what happened?” Chase asked.

“Who attacked her?” Marvin was tightly holding Chase’s hand.

“I’ll kick their ass.” Bim stated.

“All we know is that Annalise went after the new virus and we’re assuming they’re the one who hurt her.” Dr. Iplier answered.

“We know that but who’s the virus?” Wilford asked.

“We don’t know and we won’t know until Annalise wakes up.” Dr. Schneeplestein stated.

“We should start looking for Mac and Bing.” Jackieboy said. “There’s nothing we can do here.”

“We need to find the virus. We find them, we find Mac and Bing.” Google said.

“Then we should wait for Annalise since she most likely knows who the virus is.” Bim said.

“She’s still asleep.” Dark stated as he and Anti came out of the room, all eyes on them as Anti shut the door behind him. “When I learn who did this, they will regret the day they were ever conceived.”

“Death will be a mercy for them.” Anti added in a growl.

Annalise was in her room, eyes shut, but mind aware of everything. She didn’t want to believe that had actually happened. Mac had stabbed her. Mac had killed half of the school by using her dad. Mac was the new virus.

Eventually, something surged through Annalise and her eyes flew open. Why was she just laying here? She had so much she needed to do. Annalise slowly sat up, looking down at her stomach and seeing the jagged scar there, the same kind that was on her dad’s chest. Was he stabbed like she was? When did that happen?

Annalise got out of bed and slipped on a shirt before placing a hand over her jean pocket. She had two things she was dying to do. And she was no longer going to avoid the first one. Annalise looked at her door and let out a deep breath before glitching away.

“Annalise! What the hell are you-”

“Sit down and shut the fuck up, Tiana.” 


	35. Sour Tea

“Get out of my house!” Tiana screamed, throwing her hairbrush at Annalise as she sat at her desk. Annalise easily caught the brush and dropped it, eyes hard as she looked at someone who she had been so close to. Someone she had spent most of her life with. Someone she cared for. Someone who now hates her because she told the truth. 

“I’m done running away from this and I’m done letting you run away from this as well.” Annalise said. 

“Why wouldn’t I run from a monster?” Tiana asked.

“Why would you run from a friend?” Annalise asked back. 

“You are not my friend!” Tiana snapped.

“I’ve been your friend for over twelve years!” Annalise’s voice cracked. “We took ballet together when we were five, we played soccer together when we were seven, we took scuba lessons together when we were nine, we had a crush on the same guy when we were thirteen but we chose our friendship over him! We chose friendship! We have always chosen friendship! What happened that suddenly changed that!?” 

“You became a monster!”

“I am Annalise! I have always been Annalise! I am still the same person you used to call your best friend! I am still the same person who let you cry on her shoulder when Liam said he didn’t like you! I am still the same person who painted your nails, who curled your hair, who stayed up till three in the fucking morning talking on the phone with you because you needed someone to be there for you!  _ I _ have always been there for you!  _ I  _ have fought your bullies!  _ I  _ protected you! And the moment I finally tell you the truth, you run off to befriend my bullies. The ones who called me a prostitute, the ones that make me not want to go to school anymore and the ones that are now dead! And the only reason why you’re alive is because Mac wanted me to take care of you myself!” There was a long pause as the two stared at each other. Annalise felt a strong urge to vomit, but she ignored it when Tiana opened her mouth.

“So, you’re going to kill me?” 

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Annalise scoffed. “You’re not worth my time anymore.” 

“Then why are you here?” Tiana asked. 

“Because my dads taught me to never leave something unfinished and I’m not letting you get the last word on this.” Annalise answered. “You insulted me. After years of us being best friends, after years of doing everything together, you call me a freak.” 

“Why wouldn’t I call you a freak!? You kill people! You told me that you’re not human! You are literally a monster!” 

“I didn’t call you a freak when you told me you want to fuck my father!” Annalise snapped. “I didn’t run away when you asked me whether my father was fully gay or bisexual and I didn’t run away when you asked me whether my dads were in an open relationship and if he was into younger girls!” 

“That is nothing compared to you being a murderer!” Tiana shouted as she stood up. 

“You want to have an affair with my father!” 

“You kill people!”

“You could have killed me and my dad!” 

“How!?”

“Are you really that fucking clueless!?” Annalise let out a laugh of disbelief. “You want to have an affair with my father. That would fucking destroy my dad. My dad would never be the same. I love both of my parents and it would kill me to see them so broken and you would be the cause of it.” Annalise took a step forward. “And like fucking hell, I would ever allow you to do that.” She growled. 

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore. I don’t want to be anywhere near your disgusting father-” Tiana shrieked and fell to the ground from the force of Annalise’s slap. 

“You do not insult my father! You do not insult my family, you fucking bitch!” Annalise screamed. “My father was the one who took you home when yours forgot you at practice. My father was the one that made sure our house was peanut free because of your allergy. My father was the one that made sure you were safe! My father allowed you into our home! He trusted you! We all trusted you! I cared for you!” Annalise was crying. “I truly cared for you! I cared for you with all of my heart! I was willing to die for you!” 

“Then why don’t you!?” Tiana screamed. “Just fucking die already and leave me alone!” Annalise felt everything in her body drop at those words. The tears flowed down her face and she shook her head. 

“I thought you were better than that. I thought you actually had a heart.” Annalise spoke harshly. “How could I have been so blind?” 

“Get out of my house.” Tiana spat. 

“You’re fucking  **_nothing_ ** .” Annalise’s voice echoed in the room before she glitched away. 

Annalise stayed in her room for a moment, blinking away her remaining tears and taking several deep breaths. She tilted her head and her neck cracked, a few orange pixels popped off of her body and she became calm. Scarily calm.  

Annalise went over to her door and opened it, stepping out and looking at her family, all of them gasping and getting up when they saw her. She felt arms around her as Wilford lifted her up into a spinning hug. 

“I knew my Annie would be just fine!” Wilford said. He sat Annalise down and his smile dropped when he saw the look on Annalise’s face. “What did you do?” 

“I spoke with Tiana.” Annalise answered honestly. “I’m done with her.” Annalise looked at her dads and was waiting to be scolded, but neither of them said anything. 

“She wasn’t a good friend.” Wilford said, patting Annalise’s shoulder. 

“You have no idea.” Annalise sighed. 

“At least you got my perky little ass.” Keith said with a wink. 

“What would I do without your perky ass?” Annalise weakly chuckled as she reached into her pocket. “So…” Annalise pulled her hand out and showed that she was holding a purple pixel. “We’re going to go fuck up Mac."


	36. Pixel Takedown

“Mac!” Annalise shouted as she, Dark and Anti exited the portal Anti created by using the pixel Annalise had caught. It had taken a lot of yelling and arguing to convince the others to stay behind. But after Wilford said that they should go on their own, the others reluctantly agreed. 

“Anna-bell!” Bing shouted and ran from the corner of the room he had been sitting in. 

“Bing!” Annalise ran as well and the two hugged when they reached each other. 

“Anna, all of those things I said, I swear it wasn’t me!” Bing had tears in his eyes. “I didn’t say it, I didn’t! I love you, I do!”

“Bingy.” Annalise's voice cracked and she pulled Bing into a kiss. 

“I-” Bing’s eyes suddenly went white and he fell over. 

“Bing!” Annalise cried out. 

“He’s great for a little recharge.” Mac said from the ledge at the top of the room, he sat on the railing and he popped his fingertips out of his mouth as if he just had a snack. Annalise gritted her teeth and clenched her hands. Her wings popped out of her back and she screamed as she ran and leaped into the air. Mac launched himself off of the railing, a cloud of purple pixels formed around him as he landed on Annalise, tipping her off balance and causing her to fall. Annalise slammed to the ground with Mac on top of her. Mac clasped his hands together and was about to pound them into Annalise’s head but Anti tackled him before he could. Anti’s wings were out and hissed at Mac as he threw him into the wall. Anti dove at him again but Mac used his pixels as a wall and Anti ran into it and was tossed back. Dark came back through the portal after getting Bing out of the way, blazer off and wings out. He saw Annalise getting off of the ground and Anti land. 

“Mac.” Dark growled before flapping his wings, using them to speed across the floor. Mac jumped out of the way and Dark caught himself on the wall before leaping at Mac, slamming a fist to his face. Dark ended up fumbling a few steps away from Mac from the force of his jump, he turned back around and Mac was gripping a chunk of pixels in the shape of a baseball bat and he swung it towards Dark, hitting him in the jaw and causing him to fall. 

“Papa!” Annalise went for Mac and Mac quickly shifted his stance and slammed the bat into Annalise’s stomach. Annalise coughed out but used her arms to hold the bat against her. She yanked the bat out of Mac’s grip and dropped it to the ground. Annalise didn’t see the pixels loosening and flowing up to a wave behind her. Anti shouted and tackled Annalise out of the way of the spikes the pixels shot out. The pixels crashed back down and returned to surrounding Mac. Dark grabbed Mac by the back of his head and slammed him face-first into the ground. Dark yelled when the pixels wrapped around him and threw him, making him crash into Anti. Annalise tried to go at Mac again, but the pixels grabbed her next and slammed her into the wall on the other side of the room. The pixels melted away from her and formed a cage around her. “What!? Are you fucking serious!?” Annalise shouted and pounded her fists on the bars in front of her. She had enough room between each bar to put her arm through, but the rest of her body couldn’t squeeze past the bars as well. “Are you actually serious!?” She screamed again, holding the bars with her hands and pulling at them. “Not fair!” 

“Let her out!” Anti shouted and grabbed Mac’s arm, flipping him to the ground. Mac shot a hand out and a spike of pixels came out and stabbed Anti in the shoulder. “Fuck!” Anti stumbled back and went to the ground. “F-Fu-Fuck.” Anti’s voice shook and broke off as his body began to glitch out. 

“Anti!” Dark rushed over to Anti and rolled him onto his back. “Stay still!” He grabbed the spike and tried to yank it out. Anti screamed out in pain, voice echoing and a harsh static filling the air. Dark pulled again and the spike came out but Anti’s wings made a popping sound and they became a pile of separate pixels.

“Sounds like the glitch-bitch caught a bug.” Mac chuckled. 

“Anti, Anti are you okay?” Dark put his hand under Anti’s head. 

“Y-Yeah.” Anti stuttered out. “Really, shocky.” Dark hissed and pulled his hand back when a spark went through his fingertips. He cursed when he saw that the pixels from the spike were now covering his hand and crawling up his arm.

“I just wanted to be happy, you know.” Mac said, watching as Dark tried to slap the pixels away. “I just wanted to have a family like you do! My mother abandoned me as well! She left me and tossed me away like I was nothing! I was alone, I was different. But then Rus found me. Rus took me in and he took care of me and then you assholes killed him and the others! You killed my family!” Dark tried to bite off the pixels, but it didn’t work. Anti was now sitting up and was trying to help Dark while his body was still glitching. “You took my family away! How is it fair that mine is gone and you get to keep yours!?” Mac clenched his hand and the pixels started to cover Dark faster. “I’m going to kill your husband and take your daughter away! You’re nothing! You’re-” There was a loud bang and Mac gasped out as a hole was now in his chest. “I-I-” Mac gargled out before his body went limp and he collapsed. The pixels faded away from Dark’s body and Anti was not longer glitching. They looked at Mac’s corpse before raising their head and seeing Annalise holding out a gun covered in orange pixels.

“Fuck you, Mac.” Annalise said, lowering the weapon. 


	37. A Splashing End

Dark signed what felt like the hundredth piece of paper and he set it aside into a small pile. He was officially gone from all records and from all memories except for his and his family’s. Dark groaned as he held his arms up and stretched, feeling his back pop since he’s been hunched over for hours. It’s taken him a week to get all of this figured out and it was finally done. 

“Darky-baby, everyone’s waiting for you.” Anti said from the doorway, wearing only a pair of swim trunks. “You’re not even changed.” He added with a pout. 

“I’m going, I’m going. I just finished the final form.” Dark stood up and Anti went over to him, giving him a kiss. 

“Are you finally going to take that break we were talking about?” Anti asked. “You’ve been working yourself to death.” 

“Maybe.” Dark chuckled when Anti slapped his arm. 

“Get changed and come out to the pool, Annalise wants to show you something.” Anti gave Dark another kiss before leaving. Dark just smiled and followed, doing what he had been told. 

“Papa!” Annalise squealed happily when she saw Dark step out of the house. Dark could still feel a warmth in his chest every time Annalise called him that. 

“There’s my handsome husband.” Anti chuckled, laying out on one of the pool chairs. 

“I was about to say the same thing.” Dark kissed Anti’s cheek and sat in the chair next to him. 

“Papa! Watch!” Annalise waved her arms to get Dark’s attention. 

“I’m watching.” Dark said. Annalise took several steps back and ran towards the pool, jumping into the air as a cloud of orange pixels surrounded her. She landed into the water and the pixels moved with the splash and formed them into the shape of a heart before falling back into the pool. 

“Did you see?” Annalise asked after coming out of the water, swimming to the edge of the pool.

“See what?” Dark asked with a grin. 

“Papa!” Annalise whined, pulling herself out of the water to sit on the ledge. 

“I saw it, don’t worry.” Dark chuckled. 

“She’s been working on that for thirty minutes.” Anti said. 

“Cannonball!” Bim shouted before jumping into the pool, splashing Annalise and getting Host and Google as well, who were trying to enjoy the sun. 

“Bim!” Annalise squealed. 

“Aren’t you two going to swim?” Wilford asked, walking over to Anti and Dark.

“I’m working on my tan.” Anti said. 

“You can tan?” Wilford said with a raised brow. “Keith-ster! Why aren’t you in the pool?” Wilford caught Keith standing at the edge of the pool and sticking his toe in.

“The water’s too cold.” Keith stated. “I’m delicate.” 

“You know the best way to get over the cold water is to just jump in, right?” Wilford said, a playful smirk on his lips. 

“Wil, I will-” Keith let out a squeak when Wilford grabbed him and jumped into the pool while holding him. “Cold! Cold! Cold!” Keith shouted as he splashed around. “I’m too young to drown!” Keith squeaked again when Wilford hugged his back to his chest, helping him to stay up. 

“Kiss, kiss, kiss!” Annalise chanted. 

“Shut up!” Keith shouted. 

“I got ten bucks he’s gonna fuck him.” Anti said to Dark. 

“Oh hush.” Dark said with an eye roll. 

“Could you guys at least put your feet into the pool?” Annalise asked. 

“Alright.” Anti said as he and Dark got up.

“Chase! Put me down!” Marvin yelped as Chase lifted him up by his shoulders. 

“Are you ready for battle!?” Dr. Schneeplestein called out as Dr. Iplier carried him on his shoulders. The Jims both yelped and waddled away when Henrik yelled, going over to Jackieboy who was just floating in the water. 

“Wait, where’s Bing?” Dark asked, realizing that he was the only one missing. 

“Right here!” Bing said as he walked over from the house, the only one not in swimming attire. “Worried about me, daddy-o?” Bing said with a laugh as he stood next to Dark, both of them near the edge of the pool. 

“Oops.” Dark said.

“Oops? What do you-” Bing shouted when Dark suddenly pushed him into the pool. “Bro!” Bing coughed out when he came back up. 

“How did you know he was waterproof?” Anti asked. 

“I didn’t.” Dark said with a shrug and a smirk. 

“Papa!” Annalise slipped back into the pool and swam over to Bing. 

“Where are my sunglasses?” Bing asked, patting his face.

“You don’t need them.” Annalise giggled, placing a hand on Bing's chest. Bing just smiled and the two leaned in to kiss. 

“Got ‘em!” Keith shouted after popping up between them, sunglasses in hand. “Oops, did I interrupt?” 

“You’re worse than papa.” Annalise huffed before splashing Keith. Keith laughed and splashed back, yelping when Bing helped Annalise from behind him. 

“Backup! I need backup!” Keith called out. 

“Wilford to the rescue!” Wilford said before diving into the water. 

“Wait, where did he-” Bing’s question became a shout when Wilford grabbed his legs from under the water and lifted him up, tossing him back. 

“Look out!” Anti shouted before leaping into the pool right next to Keith and Annalise, covering them both with a wave of water. Anti started laughing as well when they two began splashing him back as soon as he came back up. 

Dark found himself sitting on the edge of the pool, watching as everyone played around in the water. A large smile on his face as Anti and Annalise splashed at each other, reminding him when she was younger and they bought her a small kiddie pool. She was so happy as she played and Anti played with her while Dark watched for a while, just like he was now. They were happy. They were all so happy and it made Dark’s chest warm up with joy. If someone would have told him he'd be married with a daughter thirteen years ago, he would have scoffed and called them crazy. Little did he know how much he truly loved his crazy family. 

Dark was pulled out of his thoughts when a wave of water hit him. 

“He did it!”   
“She did it!” 

Anti and Annalise both pointed at each other. Dark just chuckled before slipping down into the pool. Anti and Annalise shared a look when Dark went under. The both squealed when Dark came back up with a shout and dunked them into the water. Anti clung himself to Dark’s back while Annalise swam away, heading over to Bing who was sitting on the edge of the pool and complaining about wet jeans not being comfortable. 

“We’re a happy little family, aren’t we?” Anti said with a giggle, resting his chin on Dark’s shoulder.

“Little?” Dark said with a scoff. 

“We’re one big happy family.” Anti corrected. 

“Yeah...I guess we are.” Dark said. 

“I love you, Darky.” Anti sang, hugging Dark a little tighter. 

“I love you, too." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this lovely series has ended on here, there is no need to fear! I have created a blog on Tumblr called AskRaisingAnnalise and you can send questions to the characters in the story or come up with 'what-ifs' such as "What if Keith got to yell at Tiana", you can also send prompts for future one-shots.   
> Annalise still has plenty of stories to tell!


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